Inspectorate seeks fastest, cheapest way to demolish Moscow House building

LRT reported, citing BNS, that Lithuania’s State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate is reviewing how to demolish the unfinished Moscow House building in Vilnius as quickly and cheaply as possible after prosecutors warned it to enforce a court ruling without delay.

“The VTPSI’s position remains unchanged: the court decision must be implemented and the illegally built structure must be demolished,” inspectorate head Albertas Stanislovaitis said in a statement.

He said the inspectorate had previously sought lawful solutions that would allow the demolition to be carried out efficiently and, if possible, without using state budget funds. After assessing the changed legal circumstances and comments from prosecutors, it will review the chosen implementation model and decide on further action.

Inspectorate representative Viktorija Šinkūnienė told BNS that the comments from the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office would be discussed on Monday with the Vilnius municipality and insolvency administrator Šatrijos biuras. The inspectorate will not appeal the prosecutor’s warning to the court.

Šinkūnienė said the inspectorate would also reassess a draft settlement agreement after prosecutors raised doubts about some of its provisions. The agreement must comply with legislation and not conflict with the public interest.

The settlement is also affected by court rulings that the Moscow House building cannot be transferred to the Vilnius municipality. On Thursday, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal ruled that creditors of the liquidated public institution Moscow Cultural and Business Centre Moscow House, which manages the building, could not write it off and transfer it to the city.

The court said an unauthorized construction object could not be sold and therefore could not be transferred to the Vilnius authorities.

The Environment Ministry has initiated negotiations on a settlement that would transfer responsibility for the demolition from the inspectorate to another party. This could be a company willing to carry out the work using its own or other private funds, while the municipality has also been mentioned as a possible party to assume responsibility.

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas asked law enforcement authorities to protect the public interest in enforcing the court ruling after the inspectorate failed late last year to select a winner in a tender for the demolition work. The building has remained standing for more than four years despite the demolition order.