Important information
Vilnius Wants to Stop Using Belarusian Salt and Asks the Government to Lift the Exception to the Sanctions Urgently
Today, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius submitted a request to the Government asking to impose national sanctions urgently on all products of the Belarusian company “Belaruskali”, including salt used for road maintenance. The current sanctions imposed on Belarus do not cover sodium chloride products, so Vilnius, under current legislation and according to lowest price tenders, is legally obliged to purchase salt from producers close to the regime of Belarus.
In 2019, the administration of Vilnius City Municipality carried out an international public procurement, which led to the award of preliminary contracts. According to them, updated tenders of suppliers are carried out and sodium chloride salts are purchased. One of the suppliers, which almost always wins public procurement because of the lowest price offered, is the private limited company “LIT Salt Trade”, which supplies road salt from the Belarusian state-owned company “Belaruskali”. According to the provisions of the Law on Public Procurement, Vilnius City Municipality has no legal grounds for rejecting the offer of the private limited liability company “LIT Salt Trade”. The contract with the supplier is valid until October 2022.
It is estimated that around 20,000 tons of salt would be purchased until the end of the contract for approximately EUR 1.6 million.
“We are asking the Government, as soon as possible, within two weeks, to impose, according to the grounds and assumptions already set out in Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1030, national sanctions on all products of the Belarusian state-owned company “Belaruskali”, which are imported from Belarus, because, considering the current political situation, it is totally unacceptable to finance the illegal regime in Belarus. It is likely that the main buyer of road salt in the country—the company “Kelių priežiūra”—and other municipalities are facing a similar problem,” said Tomas Gulbinas, Deputy Mayor of Vilnius.
As early as on 12 August 2021, the municipality administration applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Security Department asking to assess whether the supply of products from a company with links to the Belarusian regime is contrary to the national security of Lithuania. At the end of August, the State Security Department informed that this issue is not within the competence of the Department, but the Ministry clarified that prohibitions do not apply to contracts concluded before 25 June 2021 and that these sanctions do not cover sodium chloride products.
Marketing and Communication Division, [email protected]
Also read:
Parking fee regulations are about to change in Vilnius
Today, the Vilnius City Council approved the question discussed in committees on the amendments to the local parking fee regulations, which aims to automate the control of the fee collection and simplify the process of paying for parking. The duration of the period for which a parking payment... ❯❯❯
2023-03-10
Blue arrows for trolleybuses have also improved the movement of buses
More and more often, Vilnius residents notice bright blue arrows, officially called indicator panels, used for trolleybus traffic. They operation principle is the same as traffic signals, they help drivers to know better the direction of the skewer, whether it is correct for their direction of... ❯❯❯
2023-03-06
Partitions removed in Vilnius will protect newly planted greeneries next year
The removal of partitions that have protected newly planted greeneries from salt and street pollution during winter has started. Last autumn, 23 km of such partitions have been installed near streets. Next winter their locations will be adjusted with regard to the locations of planting of new... ❯❯❯
2023-03-06
Purchase of new trolleybuses announced
Vilnius starts upgrading its trolleybus fleet, which will make it one of the newest and most modern in the capital. At the end of the year, UAB Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas (Vilnius Public Transport) (VVT) launched a public tender for the purchase of 91 double-axle trolleybuses and started... ❯❯❯
2022-12-30
Vilnius public transport drivers’ strike is planned from 5 December: what you need to know?
Important for passengers A strike by drivers of the company Vilniaus viešasis transportas(VVT) is planned from 5 December. This means that all routes served by VVT will be open, but they will be less frequent. VVT currently operates 76 out of 105 routes: 5 express, 17 trolleybuses and 54... ❯❯❯
2022-12-01
A new Board Member of Vilnius “Susisiekimo paslaugos” – a head of Amsterdam City Administration
Ms. Thea de Vries, current director of the administration of Amsterdam Municipality, was approved as an independent board member of the centre of mobility competences of Vilnius City, municipal enterprise “Susisiekimo paslaugos”, this week. This is the first time in the history of enterprises... ❯❯❯
2022-08-17