Lithuania delays 93 state audit recommendations

Lithuania is behind schedule in implementing 93 recommendations issued in audits, including 34 considered highly important, the State Audit Office said, according to LRT. It added that 20 recommendations producing tangible benefits had been implemented over the past six months.

The State Audit Office published its autumn 2026 report on the implementation of recommendations, reviewing changes made over the past six months and important outcomes that have not yet been achieved.

Its priorities for the next six months are to strengthen the country’s resilience by improving reserve management, reinforcing firefighting capabilities and prevention, and deciding whether to continue the offshore wind farm project.

“Every implemented recommendation means a problem solved and people’s lives improved. However, we must openly acknowledge that decisions delayed by an average of 19 months are not just statistics. They represent national goals that have not been achieved and potential that has not been realised,” State Controller Irena Segalovičienė said in a statement.

She said prolonged legislative or information technology processes could not be used as the sole explanation when national resilience and people’s welfare were at stake. Each delay, she added, increased risks for the country and its residents.

The most significant changes over the past six months were recorded in social protection, the State Audit Office said. After support for family-based care was strengthened and conditions improved for children without parental care, the share of children cared for in families rose to 82.8 percent in 2025, from 77 percent in 2021.

The share of children over the age of 10 with disabilities or health problems who were cared for in families also increased, from 67.8 percent in 2021 to 72 percent in 2025.

Access to assistance for victims of domestic violence also improved. Specialised comprehensive assistance was provided to 82 percent of people whose cases had been reported to police, compared with 22 percent in 2022. The proportion of victims receiving in-person legal and psychological assistance increased several times.

The State Audit Office also reported improvements in other areas. Stricter admission requirements for higher education institutions helped improve the quality of studies, management of public-private partnership projects was strengthened, and the General Prosecutor’s Office shifted its focus towards completing pre-trial investigations more quickly.

However, 93 recommendations had still not been implemented on time by this autumn. The delays covered a wide range of areas, including decisions important to national and public safety.

In fire safety, the same challenges remain, auditors said. In 2025, only 25 percent of firefighter duty shifts at the State Fire and Rescue Service met the requirements, up from 19 percent in 2020. The number of fires at inspected facilities did not decrease, with 188 recorded in 2020 and 189 in 2025.

In healthcare, the share of decisions on applications for medicine reimbursement made on time rose from 8 percent in 2023 to 28 percent in 2026. However, almost three quarters of decisions on adding medicines to reimbursement lists were still delayed by more than six months, with delays ranging from 184 to 616 days, preventing patients from accessing necessary treatment more quickly.

Cybercrime prevention also remains insufficient, according to the State Audit Office, which said the field lacked interinstitutional planning, coordination and impact measurement. Other unresolved challenges include failure to reach the country’s forest coverage level and stalled decisions on the size of bailiffs’ fees.

The institution said consistent strategic planning and clearer allocation of responsibilities were needed to strengthen the country’s security, financial resilience and energy resilience.