The failure to demolish the unfinished Moscow House in central Vilnius has become a “stinking mess” and is an embarrassment for Lithuania as a whole, the city’s mayor has said.
Valdas Benkunskas criticised the State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate for failing to implement a 2022 court ruling ordering the building’s demolition over the past five years.
“It seems to me that this issue has already become a stinking mess and is embarrassing not only for the Inspectorate, but for the entire state, as we have been unable to demolish a single building in five years,” Benkunskas told BNS.
He said only one attempt had been made to announce a tender during that period, which was subsequently challenged by excluded contractors.
“If there is a will, there is always a possibility to supervise the processes properly. I don’t know if this is deliberate, but I can safely say that there is no desire or will to do so,” he added.
In January, the mayor said he had approached prosecutors to enforce the court ruling in the public interest. On Tuesday, the Prosecutor General’s Office told BNS that no decision had yet been made.
Benkunskas emphasised that demolition is the only viable solution for the building.
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