Šimonytė says replacing ESO chief will not solve storm problems

Former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has criticised politicians’ response to the resignation of Renaldas Radvila, chief executive of electricity distribution company ESO, saying that replacing the company’s head will not resolve the problems exposed by the August storm, LRT reported.

Šimonytė said the causes of the difficulties in restoring electricity supplies had not been examined thoroughly enough, while political responsibility had been directed at ESO and its chief from the outset.

“There was one major storm at the end of our government’s term as well. There were some difficulties restoring supplies, and there were lessons that had to be learned and preparations improved. Even though, as I understand it, this storm was the worst in decades, it seems to me there was no major effort to investigate what happened,” Šimonytė told Žinių radijas on Friday.

She said there was no question that the ESO chief was responsible for the company’s operations, but decisions about his position should have been made by the company’s board.

“From the beginning, the political position was that the company and its chief were to blame. The chief’s responsibility for managing the company is undeniable, and he had objectives set by the board. The board should have considered these issues,” Šimonytė said.

According to her, politicians effectively made decisions on behalf of the board and would then have pressured it to dismiss the chief. Radvila may have resigned to avoid putting the board in that position, she said.

Šimonytė said the key question was whether decisions made after Radvila’s departure would improve preparations for future natural disasters.

“Beheading those responsible is a very visible and striking measure. It works, but only for a very short time. Severed heads cannot solve any problems. The question is whether the people who come after them will solve these problems,” the former prime minister said.

ESO’s board accepted Radvila’s request to resign on Thursday. His last working day will be September 30, while Audrius Ruseckas, the company’s head of finance and administration, will become acting chief executive on October 1. ESO has also begun the process of selecting a new chief.

Radvila said he accepted responsibility for the company’s preparations for the storm. He said ESO had introduced a number of changes after the 2024 disaster but had not done everything it could have.

At the peak of the storm that hit Lithuania on August 22, electricity supplies were disrupted for more than 268,000 ESO customers, while more than 11,000 faults were recorded in the electricity network. The government declared a state-level emergency over the storm’s impact and farmers’ losses.

Šimonytė says local democracy is weakening

Šimonytė also said signs of undemocratic conduct and “tsarism” were becoming more apparent in a growing number of Lithuanian municipalities, indicating that local democracy was weakening.

“In general, unfortunately, there is less and less democracy in local government,” she told Žinių radijas.

She said the problem was not limited to Kaunas District Municipality and noted that Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service had already conducted investigations into the situation in municipalities.

According to Šimonytė, a growing number of municipalities showed signs of so-called “tsarism” and undemocratic conduct. She said long-serving mayors also contributed to the situation.