Lithuania’s tax office and Sodra will continue Russian service

Lithuania’s State Tax Inspectorate and Sodra will continue serving Russian-speaking clients in Russian, LRT reports, despite Vilnius Municipality’s decision to stop accepting requests and complaints in the language.

The institutions say they aim to serve as many people as possible and provide services in the language clients find most convenient. The Šeškinė outpatient clinic in Vilnius also registers patients with doctors who speak their preferred language or asks them to come with an interpreter.

Russian is not listed on the clinic’s information screens, which display only Lithuanian and English. However, the clinic says staff determine a patient’s language during registration and assign a doctor accordingly.

“The essential moment is registration. We have to distribute patients. We know which languages our employees speak and in which languages they agree to serve patients, and we distribute patients accordingly,” said Evaldas Pilipavičius, a representative of the Šeškinė outpatient clinic.

The clinic said patients may sometimes be asked to bring an interpreter if no medical staff member speaks the required language. Pilipavičius said the younger generation speaks less Russian, making registration particularly important, and added that staff try to resolve problems flexibly.

The State Tax Inspectorate and Sodra do not currently plan to abandon Russian or reduce its use.

“We have noticed that the number of Russian-speaking people has recently been increasing, due to the geopolitical situation and the arrival of people from Asia. This year, up to July, around 44,000 Russian-speaking people contacted us by phone about tax matters,” State Tax Inspectorate head Martynas Endrijaitis said.

“We follow the principle of focusing on the client and try to provide the service in the language the person uses. Consultants are not required to serve clients in a language other than the state language. This is a goodwill decision,” Sodra representative Malgožata Kozič said.

Vilnius Municipality has announced that it will no longer accept residents’ requests and complaints in Russian. Information in Russian and other languages of non-European Union countries will be provided only orally, if a particular employee speaks the language.

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said the municipality’s broader aim was to reduce the use of Russian in city services. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said the approach could differ depending on whether the issue involved Russian citizens, Belarusian regime opponents or Ukrainians.

Russian has already been removed completely from some services. Since January, driving tests at Regitra can no longer be taken in Russian.