Lithuania’s KRS Director Paulius Grigas: 'Construction is not about bricks or AI – it is still all about people'

Having experienced the largest growth surge in the company's history and doubled its revenues, KRS, one of Lithuania’s fastest-growing construction companies, specializing in strategically important buildings, engineering networks, and infrastructure projects throughout the country, is clearly set to soon jostle for a top spot among the most recognised players in the Baltic country, which is experiencing a construction boom despite geopolitical tensions and the spillover effects of regional conflicts.

“We have no intention of slowing down this year – in 2026, we plan to double our revenue once again,” Paulius Grigas, CEO of KRS, who spent 14 years in the United States before returning to Lithuania and significantly strengthening the company's position in the country's construction sector, told The Baltic Times Magazine.

During 2025, KRS added more than 70 general construction and infrastructure projects to its order portfolio, with a combined value of nearly €130 million. The total value of projects currently under execution now exceeds €230 million.

What is the magic behind KRS securing contracts with A-tier clients?

Of course, it is a commercial secret (grins). Seriously speaking, our strength is probably the fact that in every project our team manages to find something unique, to carefully consider and understand the individuality of each project.

If a contractor offers standard solutions, then the project becomes standard, with standard pricing and standard outcomes. Yet no client wants to become just another standard project. What fits everyone, in reality, fits no one. Once you truly understand a project and identify its essence, success follows naturally. Every project is unique.

Until my return to active management, KRS was a specialized company, an engineering infrastructure construction company. One of many of the kind. 

In my vision, KRS had to be a diversified multisector company – serving as a general contractor. Unlike elsewhere, at KRS, we introduced inhouse Design & Build system, which gained popularity with the rise of PPP (public private partnership – TBT) projects – an integrated project delivery model in which KRS is responsible for both the design and construction phases of a project, providing clients with a single point of accountability from concept through completion.

Undoubtedly, Design & Build gives us much more flexibility, allows to execute projects faster – giving us an edge over others.

 I dare say that, in terms of professionalism and competence, our team of designers and architects is on par with the best specialists and firms in the industry. For instance, our architectural proposal was recently awarded in the top three for the national landmark Vilnius Congress Center.  

At KRS, we have a diverse team of engineers covering every stage of a project, from commercial planning and development to project execution and delivery, with expertise in underground utility infrastructure, road construction, and high-rise buildings. In a word, we do it all from A to Z. Few construction companies still offer this level of vertical integration, which is a significant advantage for our clients: everything is handled in-house.

Another very important trend we are tapping today is digitalization. Artificial intelligence is also being used as an assistant in data processing. In design work, AI is an excellent support tool as well – instead of designers having to develop every option from scratch, AI can generate a range of viable suggestions.

Besides, we have a strong financial arm – through our investment group Inspiration Holdings.

KRS's vision and strategy are centred on the slogan “We Are Building for Future Generations.” What inspired you to choose it?

The idea for the slogan was mine. For me, business is not just about making money. It is about contributing to your local community, strengthening your country, and sharing with others – the social aspect is very important to me.

When you build something, you cannot think only about yourself and the present. You have to consider what you will leave behind and how your work will stand the test of time. So when we bury a time capsule with a letter to future generations at a new site, we commit to living up to the slogan.

Let’s speak about the numbers. KRS's revenue surged from around €30 million to €69 million in 2025 alone, and you expect the company to double its revenue again by 2027. What is driving this remarkable growth trajectory?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that last year KRS experienced the largest growth leap in the company's history.

Our revenue increased by 127.6 percent to €69.2 million, while preliminary unaudited profit before tax doubled from €1.3 million to €2.6 million.

We expect to maintain a similar pace of growth this year and double our revenue once again, reaching €150 million. This forecast is based on the order portfolio we have already secured.

Achieving these benchmarks would place KRS among the largest players in Lithuania's highly competitive construction market. While this will create new opportunities, it will also bring greater responsibility and stronger competition. That is why we continue to invest heavily in strengthening our team and implementing the latest technologies.

It is important to understand that the growth we are seeing today was effectively programmed several years ago. In other words, today's results are the outcome of tenders we won in 2024 and 2025.

In construction, revenue is recognised over the life cycle of a project. If you win a tender in 2024, perhaps only 10 percent of its value will be reflected in that year's financial results. The bulk of the revenue may appear in 2025, with the remainder carrying over into 2026.

That is why sustainable growth is driven not by the sheer number of tenders won, but by the quality of the projects we secure and our ability to execute them efficiently. 

The history of KRS dates to 1950, when a specialised communications construction base was established in Kaunas. After many years as a specialised infrastructure contractor, KRS has evolved into a modern, diversified construction company.

Some of Lithuania’s top construction executives are regular public commentators and TV personalities, while others prefer to stay behind the scenes and build their brands quietly. With the high-profile marketing campaign you have launched, are you deliberately positioning yourself among the former group?

I certainly do not hide behind others. On the contrary, I put myself at the forefront and take personal responsibility for what happens at KRS – at every level and across all our construction sites.

The company’s publicity campaign began much earlier than many people realise. Most notably, it started when we began transforming the company after my family and I returned to Lithuania from the United States in the summer of last year.

However, because I had been travelling back and forth while managing KRS, our public visibility efforts date back even further – to the end of 2023. At that time, we launched a campaign under the slogan “Nebūk grybas” (“Don't be a mushroom”, a popular Lithuanian expression used to describe someone who is clueless or out of touch – TBT). The campaign was designed to increase awareness of the KRS brand and, among other objectives, attract new talent. In total, we ran four media campaigns through 2025.

Your hiring approach has attracted considerable attention, from your personal participation in job interviews to the engineering challenges faced by prospective KRS employees. Why is recruitment such a priority for you, and where did your appreciation for talent acquisition and human capital originate?

Construction is not about bricks or AI – it is ultimately about people, although we have embraced AI extensively.

To attract the best talent, KRS has developed several key HR advantages. Our engineers work on complex, non-routine technical challenges and contribute to real, tangible projects. We have established a clear career pathway that allows employees to advance to expert-level positions based on fully transparent criteria.

In addition, KRS invests in professional certifications, mentoring programmes, and internal training. A flexible work model and hybrid work opportunities also help us retain talented professionals who value autonomy.

Instead of posting a standard job advertisement saying, “We are looking for an experienced engineer,” we say: “You will work on complex projects, have a dedicated training budget, and follow a clear path to the highest professional level.” That reflects what talented professionals are truly looking for.

By March this year, the company employed more than 430 people. 

Is it true that, during your busiest hiring period, you personally spoke with around 1,000 job candidates a year?

Indeed, at the peak of our recruitment efforts at KRS, particularly when we were seeking highly skilled and ambitious engineers, I did exactly that. Sometimes I would devote up to three hours a day to interviews – roughly 15 minutes per candidate, mostly online – after my regular work hours. My goal was to get to know each person before allowing our HR team to make the final decision.

The key question I always had for candidates was simple: “What drives you as a professional? What makes you happy?” When reviewing a CV, I also looked for consistency and a long-term approach to career development.

To me, the most important HR manager in any company is the CEO. A chief executive cannot be truly effective if he or she distances themselves from hiring and delegates the entire responsibility to the HR department. Building the right team is, in many ways, my most important job.

 My experience in America only reinforced this belief

KRS has unveiled its expansion plans for Latvia. Is this merely the first step in a broader regional growth strategy?

We entered the Latvian market as an investor. In Liepaja, we are developing a residential apartment complex near the Baltic Sea, while also carrying out engineering works related to the project.

To be frank, there are currently so many opportunities and projects available in Lithuania that they keep us fully occupied. However, looking ahead, I see Latvia and Poland as our most promising expansion and investment markets.

For the foreseeable future, these are the countries where we see the greatest potential to grow our presence and pursue new investment opportunities.

How is KRS coping with higher construction material costs, some of which have been driven by the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East?

Indeed, both have pushed construction costs higher. The price of polystyrene alone – a material derived from petroleum products – has risen significantly following the conflict in the Middle East. However, the first major wave of price increases came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when supply chains were disrupted and the cost of materials surged.

To mitigate the impact of such fluctuations, we have incorporated price indexation clauses into all of our contracts. As a result, we are now in a much stronger position as a general contractor than we were before the pandemic, with a greater ability to manage cost volatility and protect both our business and our clients from unexpected price shocks.

What did you learn about the construction industry in the US?

The first thing that comes to mind is the attitude toward competition. In Lithuania, competition sometimes reaches a point where contractors, particularly in the public sector, take on projects at prices below cost. That is unhealthy for the entire industry. In the United States, no contractor takes on a project without a clear and sustainable profit margin.

Yet I have no doubt that Lithuania's construction sector will perform strongly over the next five to seven years. Demand remains robust and the project pipeline is substantial driven in large part by the needs of the defence sector.

However, I strongly believe that the state should play a more proactive role in financing important projects. Capital borrowed from private lenders is often expensive, and those costs are ultimately passed on to end users. Greater access to public financing could help reduce project costs and make essential infrastructure and services more affordable.

You also lead the investment company UAB Inspiration Holdings. How do Inspiration Holdings and KRS complement each other?

I established Inspiration Holdings after returning from the United States. The group has two main pillars: investments in the construction sector through KRS and, through UAB Inspiration Properties, investments and activities related to real estate development, asset management, and strategic advisory services.

There is a natural synergy between the two. Inspiration Holdings focuses on identifying investment opportunities, structuring capital, and developing long-term growth strategies, while KRS contributes its expertise in design, engineering, construction, and project execution.

This combination allows us to gain deeper insight into market trends, investor expectations, and emerging opportunities, while also having the capability to turn those opportunities into high-quality, tangible projects. 

KRS and you personally support a variety of community-focused projects. Why does giving back to the community matter to you?

It must come from the heart. Helping others, sharing, and being actively involved in the community are values that have always been important to me. My wife Agnia and I have lived by these principles for many years, both personally and professionally, both in the United States and in Lithuania.

As you mature and build a family, your perspective changes. As a father of three children, I feel a natural responsibility not only to create value in business, but also to contribute to the next generation, society, and support those who need help. For me, community involvement is not a strategy or a public relations exercise – it is simply the right thing to do.

Looking ahead, I see myself becoming even more involved in addressing the needs of Lithuanian society. 

What does your typical day look like?

On workdays, I usually get up before 5 a.m. I spend some time meditating and exercising before heading to the office. I like to say, “You will never regret getting up early.”

I am usually at the office shortly before 7 a.m., but I try to wrap up my workday by 3 or 4 p.m. Whenever possible, I dedicate my evenings to my family.

Maintaining that balance is important to me. No matter how demanding business may be, family always comes first.

Where do you see KRS in 10 years from now?

I am convinced that we are on the path of becoming one of Lithuania’s largest construction companies.  Current market conditions are favorable for us, and we are leveraging our flexibility, speed, expertise, and ambition. We will strive to make the most of this and ensure sustainable growth in the future.