Parliament looking for more Royal Palace funds

VILNIUS 's The Lithuanian parliament and government are looking for an additional 18-20 million litas (5.2-5.8 million euro) for the construction of the Royal Palace in Vilnius.

At a meeting at the President's Office, President Valdas Adamkus, patron of the Royal Palace, former president Algirdas Brazauskas, Parliamentary Speaker Arunas Valinskas, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, Finance Minister Algirdas Semeta and Culture Minister Remigijus Vilkaitis decided that the government and the parliament should consider the possibilities of getting funds so that the palace could be opened in mid-summer.

This year's budget stipulates over 44 million litas for the Royal Palace, however, according to palace spokesperson Rita Grumadaite, the sum may be insufficient for getting the premises ready for honored guests at the planned opening of the facilities on July 6, 2009.

"The president called for an answer whether under these hardship conditions we could come up with the funds and hold a spectacular millennium celebration - welcome top-ranking guests, open the (Royal) Palace for the public - or openly admit that there will be no additional money and revise the scenario of the celebration to make it smaller and more economic," said Grumadaite.

Prime Minister Kubilius, did not rule out the possibility of finding 18-20 million litas in the country's tight budget.

"In the nearest future, we will make proposals to the parliament on cutting the spending by approximately 2.7-3 billion litas. The budget will amount to 16-17 billion litas, so 18 million litas can be found. The question is whether the 18 million litas would become a broader consensus or trigger enormous quarrels and anger," said the premier.

Brazauskas, Lithuania's former president who heads the Royal Palace commission, said that the funds necessary for the Royal Palace could be allocated from privatization reserves rather than from the state budget.

Opening of the Royal Palace in central Vilnius is scheduled for July 2009 and is advertised as a highlight of the celebration 1,000 years since the first mention of Lithuania's name.

Rebuilding of the Royal Palace is among the largest cultural investment projects in the history of independent Lithuania, with 176 million litas already spent for the construction, acquisition of exhibits and administration by now.

Destroyed 200 years ago, the Royal Palace of the Lower Castle of Vilnius is being rebuilt on the remains discovered in the 1987-2001 period.