VILNIUS — Vilniaus Vandenys has asked for State Prices and Energy Control Commission to progressively increase the price of water so that it would be 20 percent more expensive by 2011.

Earlier, before the change in management following an anti-corruption police raid in April, the company had submitted a request for cold water prices to increase by 50 percent. New management revealed that many of the contracts that the company holds contained elements of corruption, causing the company to lose money. It was reported that the company’s balance sheets read 12 million litai (€3.48 million) in the red annually.

The pricing commission however has noted that prices cannot be increased so rapidly — the process must be done over a number of years.

The company said that they would have to prove that the price of water would be justified in 2012. They will need to make calculations and calculate investments for the future before they could gain approval for the increase in price.

The company is the largest water utility in Lithuania and covers the drinking water and sewage systems in Vilnius city, Salcininku, Švenčionių and Vilnius district.

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