The airport has been in operation since 1932 and opened a new wing in 2007. Since the collapse of flyLAL in January airport traffic has plummeted.
VILNIUS — In an effort to improve the Vilnius International Airport’s competitiveness, Lithuania’s transport ministry is annulling wasteful contracts with the airport and private contractors.
A recent audit of the airport revealed that a number of contracts with unfavorable conditions have been signed under previous directors. The ministry suspects the contracts were used to improperly funnel public money into private hands. It is estimated that the bad contracts unnecessarily caused the airport to hemorrhage tens of millions of litai.
“We have suspicions that the former airport authority made contracts on the basis of using of public assets to create a hog trough for private interests. Seeing this situation, we’re acting decisively so that airport will be out of disadvantageous contracts as soon as possible and replaced by lucrative ones. It is urgently necessary to suspend the harm to the state,” Minister of Transport and Communications Eligijus Masiulis said in a news conference on Wednesday.
Masiulis said the airport’s management has been instructed to find a legal way to terminate such contracts. The airport already began the terminating process last week when it went to court on a number of such contracts.
The government will also seek to control the dealings of the airport more closely in future.
One example of the improper contracts given out include the rental of space at the airport that did not follow proper tender rules. Other contracts include the car parking and the taxi rights for the airport. Until recently Martono Taxi, the most expensive taxi in Vilnius, has had exclusive rights to the airport.
“There is nowhere in Europe where taxis come to the airport and wait for you only to charge you 50 litai for a five-minute journey to take you somewhere or take you home … nowhere else are there such fees,” Masiulis said.
Martono Taxi is notorious among those familiar with the airport — the company is known for systematically overcharging customers from the airport.
“Damage to the state must be stopped as soon as possible. I have similar contracts audits commissioned by the Ministry of Transport on other regulatory area companies,” Masiulis said.
