Road Audit Reactions: Prepared to discover only one-fifth of the planned gravel roads

According to the President of the Lithuanian Confederation of Enterprises, Valdas Sutkus, there is currently no long-term road maintenance and development program, planning ahead and reserve

"The documentation begins to prepare an approved development program only, while the design takes another two or three months.The fall arrives, the rain is raining, the truckers are laying asphalt, they are in a hurry, "adds V. Sutkus , adding that the work is therefore inferior.

According to him, to improve the situation, it is necessary to put in place a long term at least 5-7 years

"This would not only ensure a coherent renewal of the network, but also reduce the risk of corruption, and l & # 39; 39; business would have the opportunity to prepare the planned innovations, to plan work and investment, "said the president of the confederation. He also added that as of May 29 this year contracts have been signed on 71.2 km of gravel roads, which represents only 20%.

Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, Paulius Martinkus, agreed with the lack of effective planning.

"We saw that there was no long-term planning, we had to do our homework, estimates are made on the roads themselves, and we hope to return to the Seimas in the autumn and present priorities and allocations (money, ELTA) ", – said Martinkus

However, the Deputy Minister of Transport was not in agreement

" It should be understood that the implementation of the project lasts from 18 to 24 months, and since 2017 a large part of the projects have been transferred to this year.The fact that contracts are signed less this year does not mean that this work is less important, "said Martinkus

at the time, the director of the Lithuanian Automotive Directorate, Vitalijus Andrejevas, said that This year, with the EU funds, there are 556 million EUR. last year, this amount rose to 499 million.

According to him, this year, 29 m The euro has not been used because entrepreneurs have not managed to complete some projects.

"Yes, we understand that the consequence is unused funds, but we can not know if the contractors will do the work", V. Andrejev

V. V. The commentary of Andrejev was made by Rimvydas Gradauskas, President of the Council of Lithuanian Roads, who stated that the work is not over not by the fault of the contractors, but because of the planning

"I have heard the reproach.It is necessary to plan in advance that the credits received," said R. Gradauskas. According to him, companies are in a difficult situation, reducing the number of employees – from the former 9 thousand. Algirdas Butkevičius, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, former Prime Minister

stated that the employment contracts should be signed in January and that the project be transferred to the following year until 1 May and that they are currently signed too late. Another committee member, conservative Jurgis Razma, asks why the estimate of the development of a road maintenance program to the government was approved in April, when figures are, according to him, known when a draft budget is available in January

If some funds were highlighted last year, it would be possible to adjust it. The departure can be done, the purchases are made early in the summer and in the summer, everyone starts with a real job. Now the start of the work is in September and October, "Razma said, adding that all of the department's estimates are valid for the first few days of January, but that the Department of Transportation does not.

V. Andreyev replied that the government had approved the estimate.

"We badyzed this issue by submitting to the government task force a proposal on how to shorten this period to be able to stay in the early days of February," said Andrejev Razma said that it "does not need to be interpreted that the government takes the estimate when it receives it" because, according to Razmos, he confirms it as soon as he He receives it from the road administration.

ELTA recalls that the Ministry of Transport and Communications in 2018-2020 that planned to pave roads with 1009 kilometers of gravel.This year the program provides to allocate more from 53 million liters of land to gravel roads of state significance, joining asphalt road sections.

In early June, the LSC announced that by the end of May, only 20% had been signed.

In mid-June, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, as well as the state enterprise Kelių priežiūra, continued to conduct audits of former regional road companies, leaked recurrent irregularities and cases of waste. These facts were revealed in the study on the use of public funds in regional road enterprises of Kaunas, Panevėžys and Šiauliai in 2012-2017

A road safety audit of roads of importance initiated by the Ministry of Transport was initiated last week. showed that, with no defect, only 4 of the 33 audits audited, as well as the extent of the abuses and irregularities were revealed. According to the results of the audit, 16 million rubles were wasted.