Lithuania's 4th crematorium opens in Vilnius

VILNIUS – Lithuania's fourth crematorium was opened on Tuesday on the outskirts of Vilnius, near the Gariunai marketplace.

The facility plans to carry out at least 3,000 cremations annually, and manager Arnas Vildziunas says it will fully meet the cremation needs of Vilnius residents and surrounding regions.

"We no longer have that situation we had during the COVID epidemic when we had long cremation lines. Basically, we now provide services next day or the day after," said the manager of the Cremains crematorium and the Re Verum funeral services group that owns the facility.

In his words, the plan is to perform 3,000 to 3,500 cremations per year. A second cremation line could be installed in the future, doubling the existing capacity.

People living near the new crematorium objected to its construction but eventually lost a court case against the Environmental Protection Agency after the latter concluded there was no need for an environmental impact assessment to build a crematorium in this area.

The new facility carried out the first cremation in November and is now fully operational.

Cremains also operates a crematorium in the western district of Klaipeda district, which was opened last year. Another crematorium, owned by Guatosta and opened last year, also operates in western Lithuania.

The first crematorium in Lithuania was opened in the country's central Kedainiai District in 2011 and is operated by K2 LT.