The Council of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) on Thursday agreed to transfer a plot of state-owned land in the northern district of Radviliskis for the construction of the German defence giant Rheinmetall’s ammunition plant.
The LSMU now operates the land near Baisogala, a small town of about 1,800, on a loan-for-use basis.
“The council doesn’t object to the draft government resolution to transfer the land exclusively to Rheinmetall and to fully compensate the university for all possible losses and damages due to future infrastructure changes,” Gintaras Skorupskas, chairman of the LSMU Council, told reporters after a meeting in Kaunas.
LSMU Rector Rimantas Benetis confirmed that in exchange, the university will receive six plots of land near Baisogala and Šeduva.
However, Benetis did not specify the monetary compensation to be paid to the university for incurred losses, noting only that it could amount to “millions”.
“It’s hard to say. It can vary because the losses are related to the terms of the replacement. This includes this year’s (lost) yield and payments. Millions is the figure,” he told journalists.
The rector said that the university and the government had already agreed in principle on compensation, but “the details are still to be decided”.
The LSMU has been offered a solution regarding possible losses it would incur after the transfer of the state-owned land to Rheinmetall, an aide to the Lithuanian prime minister said on Thursday morning.
“We have certainly discussed the issue of losses with the university, and we have found a solution. We have presented it to the university, how this issue can be resolved, and we hope that the presented option is acceptable for the university,” Dalius Krinickas, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s advisor in charge of negotiations, told LRT RADIO on Thursday.
The final decision on transferring the land for the Rheinmetall factory now rests with the government.
Rheinmetall plans to invest more than 180 million euros in a 155 mm artillery ammunition plant in Lithuania, which is expected to create at least 150 new jobs.
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