Kalvarija presents 5.8 million euro border guard complex

A new 5.8 million euro complex of buildings and infrastructure at the State Border Guard Service’s Kalvarija border post was officially presented on Friday, LRT reports.

The service said the facilities will improve conditions for border control, migration management and joint work with Polish colleagues, including patrols along the European Union’s internal border.

The project includes a new 761-square-metre building and renovation of part of the old building’s basement for temporary accommodation for refugees. Work also covered about 19,600 square metres of grounds, with parking areas, pedestrian paths, a helipad, indoor and outdoor sports and recreation facilities, a warehouse, a garage and other infrastructure. The post also has computerised workstations and a training room.

The complex was built through a joint project between Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service and the Podlaskie Border Guard Unit named after General Henrik Minkevičius. The project cost 5.8 million euros, of which 4.66 million euros, or 80 percent, came from the Interreg VI-A Lithuania-Poland cooperation programme.

According to the Central Public Procurement Information System, Marijampolė construction company Statybos ritmas received a 4.04 million euro contract, including VAT, from the Interior Ministry for building work, repairs and upgrades to outdoor infrastructure.

The 2021-2027 Interreg VI-A programme aims to improve quality of life for people in border regions through cross-border cooperation. Its total budget is 93.16 million euros, and its projects focus on environmental, physical, emotional and cultural wellbeing, local cooperation and improving transport links. More than 230 million euros has been invested during the programme’s history of more than 20 years.