Vilnius thriving on change

The Lithuanian capital Vilnius has been focused on change for years now and it does not plan to stop anytime soon. From newly built roads to the introduction of higher class technologies, the city is constantly upgrading itself to become a more comfortable place to live.

It’s a busy morning in Vilnius as commuters from residential districts in the city’s western part move towards the centre. Just a year ago, a lot of them would have been queuing in slow streets in residential areas. Today, many choose to reroute to a newly built bypass, significantly changing the traffic situation in the area.

“Although the distance stays the same, the travel time is getting shorter”, says Rasa Cibulskienė, a municipality officer and a regular commuter. Using the bypass helps cut the travel tame by at least ten minutes. However, it’s not only those using the bypass who feel the difference. Rasa adds: “The situation is much better in the residential areas now that the traffic flows are redirected away from them—the queues of barely moving cars caused so much carbon emissions.”

NIB co-financing

The bypass in the western part of the city is one of the key municipal investment projects aimed at bringing more comfort to the daily lives of Vilnius residents. A city of roughly 540,000 inhabitants, Vilnius has changed a lot over the past ten years of Lithuania’s membership of the European Union. The EU Structural Funds, a regional catch-up facility, make up a major part of the financing for Vilnius city’s municipal investment programme. Posters with the EU colours mark the buildings, roads and areas upgraded with the help of the EU funds all over the city.

Loans from international financial institutions, and NIB in particular, have been an important source of co-financing for infrastructure projects in the city. Since 2009, the Bank has provided five loans, worth a combined EUR 75 million, for rebuilding the city’s infrastructure.

“Some projects would have been difficult to finalise without the loans from NIB”, says Linas Bartusevičius, the head of the municipality’s Infrastructure division.

“For example, there are many additional actions to consider when building a road: rebuilding water supply network connections or installing new electricity cables. These details, which may add up to a huge portion of the project costs, do not qualify for EU financing. That’s where NIB’s loans become indispensable”, he says.

Easing rush-hour traffic

The road building projects implemented with NIB co-financing include a new access road to Vilnius airport. The new throughput was built in only six months. The bypass west of the city centre will be finalised in 2016. Once completed, it will help shorten the travel time between Lithuania’s two biggest cities, Vilnius and Kaunas.

Another showcase project is the reconstruction of the most intensive street in Vilnius, Geležinio vilko.

“The central streets get crowded very rapidly in rush hours. We hope a new 178-metre elevated road section will do the job of redistributing the traffic”, Linas Bartusevičius explains.

NIB will leave its own signature on this construction: the Bank suggested a noise reduction wall for the road which the city has agreed to build.

Warmer schools

Energy efficiency improvements are an essential part of the city’s investments co-financed by NIB.

Renovation of city’s public buildings, including kindergartens, schools, a hospital and a foster home, intended to lower the municipal energy bills. At the same time, conditions have improved for the users of these buildings.

“In winter, kids would be freezing in the outdated school buildings. After the upgrades it became easier to regulate the temperature, which has improved the comfort level for the students”, says Andrius Velutis, who coordinated the implementation of these renovation projects.

High-tech sludge treatment

A new sludge treatment plant has also been part of the city’s investment programme co-financed with a NIB loan. The improvements let the residents of Vilnius western neighbourhoods breathe easier—literally. Several years ago, the Vilnius wastewater treatment plant was dealing with 200 tonnes of sludge every day. Lacking proper technology, the sludge used to be dried mechanically and composted on the open site, leading to unpleasant smells permeating the residential areas.

“On some days, depending on the weather, we would get hundreds of complaints from residents. After the new technology was taken into use, the complaints stopped”, says Vidmantas Puodžiūnas, the manager of the wastewater treatment plant.

The new treatment technology is based on a thermal hydrolysis process which sterilises the sludge and makes it more biodegradable.

“Our plant is the first in the Baltics and one of only a few in Europe to use this technology”, Mr Puodžiūnas says.

As a result, the amount of sludge decreased up to three times, and it is now odourless and can be used as an agricultural fertiliser. The biogas released in the sludge treatment process can now be used for electricity production, further serving the efficiency goal.

Introducing effective technology and creating modern infrastructure remains at the focus of future development projects in Vilnius. From small-scale projects to improve local standards to high ambitions of becoming a role-model for the region, the Lithuanian capital is thriving on change.