Law enforcement agencies are invited to assess the circumstances of road construction in the Trakai district

The Ministry of Transport has appealed to the Special Investigation Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office, asking for an assessment on possible violations of the law during the allocation of funds for road construction in the Trakai district last year. The institutions are also invited to verify whether political pressure was exerted on the then head of the Lithuanian Motorway Directorate (LAKD) to commit illegal acts.

Law enforcement agencies are invited to assess

“Following the conclusion of an internal audit related to the financing of roads under the Plan of Economic Stimulation and Mitigation of Consequences Caused by the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), serious doubts arise about some of the decisions taken by the Ministry last year. There is a lot of evidence that at least one item – the repair of a road in the Trakai District – led to political pressure from the management of the Motor Vehicle Directorate of Lithuania to take potentially illegal actions. Therefore, when delivering the material and contacting the forces of the order, we ask you to evaluate all the circumstances so that no question remains unanswered.” – says Communications Minister Marius Skuodis.

According to the minister, it is obvious that the road financing system needs radical changes.

One of them – the transformation of LAKD from a state-owned company to a joint-stock company – the Ministry intends to submit to the government this week.

The ministry’s appeal asks the police to evaluate whether the former transport minister Jaroslav Narkevič legally allocated 366.3 thousand. Euro financing for the Šklėriai-Aluona I road located in the Trakai district, the length of which is just over 1 km, although the LAKD informed the ministry that this road does not meet the requirements of the description of the plan for the allocation of road funds from the promotion of the economy and measures to reduce the consequences caused by the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) (hereinafter – the Description). The services are also invited to evaluate whether the ministry, after having given an order to the LAKD on 30 June 2020 to implement the ordinance adopted by the minister to finance the aforementioned road and to complete it by 2020, 30 November, has not assessed the risks of not being able to complete the project within the expected timeframe.

on July 1, 2020, the LAKD informed the Ministry that both the orders of the Minister of Transport, which allocated the funds, and the order to implement them, contradicted the current legal acts, i.e. illegal, and they refused to implement them. Minister Yaroslav Narkevich soon dismissed the then LAKD head Vitaly Andrejev from his post.

on August 21, 2020, the LAKD informed the ministry in writing of the signing of a public procurement contract for the implementation of the aforementioned road repair works.

The General Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Investigation Service (STT) are also invited to evaluate whether the funds allocated for the repair of the aforementioned Trakai district road were used legally and effectively, what was the role of the former political leadership in this process and whether there was any pressure to implement the former minister’s decisions on the financing of the aforementioned road to the new head of the LAKD, Remigiis Lipkevičis.

Last year, STT conducted an anti-corruption assessment of the Description and found that its provisions can be interpreted and applied ambiguously and are not sufficient to ensure clear and transparent distribution of funds according to their intended purpose.

Due to the repair of this road section and the funding allocated to it, the Ministry carried out an internal audit in the spring of this year. It is alleged that the Minister’s decision to allocate funding for this section of road was made in breach of the requirements of the Description. LAKD did not apply for financing for this project, since it was not included in the priority queue for financing dirt roads and until 2022. the company did not plan to implement it and also this road does not meet the definition of a road of national importance. This approach to the settlement is a dead end, with little traffic, and no requests for its repair have been received. At the time of the allocation of funding for the road, the technical project was not prepared and approved and the relevant appraisal was not carried out. According to the presented work program, the contractor expected to complete the work only after 12 months. However, under possible pressure from the former ministry leader, the entrepreneur informed that he would do everything possible to complete the road construction work by the end of 2020.

According to the Ministry, currently part of the work on this road has not yet been completed. 273,000 have been allocated for the draft Plan of measures to promote the economy and measures to reduce the consequences caused by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). euro. The remaining 127 thousand Euro amount was used from another source of financing – funds from the Road Maintenance and Development Program – although this project was not expected to receive financing from this source.