Šimonytė says ESO leadership change will not solve storm problems

Former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has criticised the political response to the resignation of Energy Distribution Operator (ESO) chief executive Renaldas Radvila, saying the causes of problems restoring electricity after an August storm were not examined thoroughly enough, LRT reported.

Šimonytė said political responsibility had been directed at the company and its head from the outset. She acknowledged that Radvila was responsible for managing ESO, but said decisions about his position should have been made by the company’s board.

“From the outset, the political position was that the company and its head were to blame,” Šimonytė told Žinių radijas on Friday. “The head of the company’s responsibility for managing it is beyond doubt, and he had objectives set by the board. The board should have considered these issues.”

She said politicians had effectively made decisions on behalf of the board and would then have pressured it to dismiss the chief executive. Radvila may have resigned to avoid placing the board in that position, she added.

Šimonytė said the key question was whether the company would make changes after Radvila’s departure to prepare better for future storms.

“Cutting heads as a method is highly visible and very striking. It works, but only for a short time. Severed heads cannot solve any problem,” she said. “The question is whether the people who come after him will solve these problems.”

ESO’s board accepted Radvila’s resignation on Thursday. His last working day will be September 30, and Audrius Ruseckas, the company’s head of finance and administration, will become acting chief executive on October 1. ESO has also begun the selection process for a permanent replacement.

Radvila said he accepted responsibility for ESO’s preparedness for the storm. He said the company had introduced a number of changes after the 2024 disaster but had not done everything it could have.

At the peak of the storm that hit Lithuania on August 22, electricity supply was disrupted for more than 268,000 ESO customers, while more than 11,000 faults were recorded in the electricity network. The government declared a state-level emergency because of the storm’s consequences and the losses suffered by farmers.

Šimonytė sees declining democracy in local government

Šimonytė also said signs of undemocratic conduct and “tsarism” were becoming more apparent in a growing number of Lithuanian municipalities, indicating a decline in local democracy.

She said the problem was not limited to Kaunas District Municipality and noted that the Special Investigation Service had already conducted investigations into the situation in Lithuanian municipalities.

According to Šimonytė, long-serving mayors also contribute to the situation. She noted that for some voters, practical work carried out by municipalities may be more important than questions of democracy or transparency.