Lithuania’s environment minister backs public-funded demolition of Moscow House in Vilnius

Lithuania’s Environment Minister Kastytis Žuromskas supports demolishing the long-stalled Moscow House complex in Vilnius through public initiative, the city municipality announced Friday after a meeting with Mayor Valdas Benkunskas.

Four years after authorities first ordered the building’s removal, Žuromskas stated the goal was to complete the demolition “as efficiently and at the lowest possible cost to the state.” The project, stalled by legal disputes and failed tenders, has become a prolonged challenge for the government.

Benkunskas called the Soviet-era structure—a symbol of “spy houses”—a “city problem” best resolved by swift demolition, with the site repurposed for Ukrainian community needs. “We agree with the Environment Ministry on the urgency,” he said, adding that Žuromskas was open to “non-standard solutions.”

The Construction Inspection Authority, tasked with enforcing the demolition, confirmed it remains bound by court orders but welcomes “initiatives that help find effective solutions while complying with legal transparency.”

Earlier this week, Kaunas Regional Court upheld the agency’s rejection of a bid by construction firm Regina ir Co in the latest tender, which collapsed in January after all four participants either failed qualifications or missed deadlines. The authority has since pledged to relaunch the tender once ongoing legal disputes conclude.

Benkunskas noted that draft amendments to the Charity and Support Law—allowing public-funded labor as a form of aid—are pending in parliament. This would enable volunteer-driven demolition, a proposal he first floated last year after repeated tender failures.

The Moscow House project, launched in 2004 near Vilnius’s center, was halted in 2016 when courts invalidated its construction permit. The developer, a public institution tied to the Russian cultural center, was ordered to either redesign the building or demolish it. After years of inaction, the state assumed responsibility for its removal.