Lietuva in brief - 2012-09-06

President Dalia Grybauskaite has criticized the government for its actions in the field of apartment renovations, reports DELFI.lt. “I am convinced that the government struggled with the renovation program the most, and it was the worst implemented project; but, something else should not be done, at its expense,” says Grybauskaite. The president pointed out that the need for a helicopter is undisputed, but the government is looking for the necessary funds in the wrong place. “I would like to confirm that the helicopters are really necessary. However, another source for funds should have been found,” said Grybauskate. ELTA previously reported that Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said that it was a logical step to use European Union funds for other purposes than originally planned. In this case to use the EU money for the procurement of new helicopters, even though it was initially intended for the renovation of block apartments. “If one program fails to use the EU funds efficiently, the money from that program is transferred to the other projects,” said the PM.

The National Audit Office of Lithuania found that the Police Department and its subordinate institutions have made serious violations by paying officers for their work and carrying out public procurement, reports ELTA. “The results showed that the Police Department and its subordinate bodies tend to wander in public procurement procedures and make serious irregularities while paying officers for their work,” said Auditor Genral Giedre Svediene. It was found that the Police Department and its subordinate institutions of Panevezys, Kaunas, Vilnius, Klaipeda and Telsiai Districts made violations of the Law on Public Procurement. Significant violations were found in the payment of salaries for the employees of County Police Headquarters of Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda and the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau. The institutions were paying money for the overtime, though the work they were doing was not considered overtime. The National Audit Office ordered the Police Commissioner-General to eliminate the violations, to bring the perpetrators to disciplinary proceedings and to recover the damages made to the Police Department and its subordinate agencies.