Tax and social agencies serve Russian speakers as Vilnius curbs use

While Vilnius is reducing the use of Russian, the State Tax Inspectorate and Sodra, the state social insurance agency, say they will continue serving Russian-speaking clients in their preferred language, LRT reports.

The agencies say they want to serve as many people as possible and currently have no plans to stop using Russian or reduce its use.

“We have noticed that the number of Russian speakers 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 speakers contacted us by telephone with tax-related questions,” State Tax Inspectorate head Martynas Endrijaitis said.

Sodra representative Malgožata Kozič said the agency followed a customer-focused principle and tried to provide services in the language used by each person. Consultants are not required to serve clients in a language other than Lithuanian, she said, adding that doing so was a voluntary decision.

At the Šeškinė outpatient clinic in Vilnius, Russian is not used on information screens, which display only Lithuanian and English. However, the clinic says patients can still receive medical services in Russian.

During registration, staff establish which language the patient speaks and assign a doctor accordingly, said Evaldas Pilipavičius, a representative of the clinic.

“The key moment is registration. We need to distribute patients. We know which languages our employees speak and which languages they agree to use when serving patients, and we assign patients accordingly,” he said.

The clinic said patients may sometimes be asked to bring an interpreter if no medical worker speaks the required language. Pilipavičius said younger people were less likely to speak Russian, making registration especially important. The clinic has also dealt with conflicts but tries to resolve such situations flexibly by finding a colleague who can help.

Some patients said they would not manage without Russian at the clinic. One woman told LRT: “There was never a moment when I could speak Lithuanian. In institutions, it was Russian; at school, Russian; at work, Russian.”

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 the particular employee speaks the language.

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said the move was one step toward reducing the use of Russian in municipal services.

“The goal is clear: the capital of a democratic state must use official languages, first Lithuanian and then other foreign languages. The use of Russian is a kind of negligence that needs to be reduced,” Benkunskas said.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said his view depended on which people were affected. “If it concerned Russian citizens, the answer would be one way. If we are talking about freedom fighters who have fled the Belarusian regime, or Ukrainians, the view changes,” he said.

Some institutions have already stopped using Russian completely. Since January, Russian can no longer be used to take the driving test at Regitra.