Residents of the village of Pagiriai say pollution and noise from the German-owned wood panel factory Homanit Lietuva are forcing families to consider leaving the area.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė visited the village just south of Vilnius on Monday and acknowledged that the decision to build the plant in the middle of a residential area had been a mistake, but said the investment remains important for the country.
“The decision to establish a factory here was wrong, and then the snowball started rolling,” Ruginienė said.
Residents greeted the prime minister with protest signs, saying life has become unbearable since the factory began operations.
Robertas Dudutis, who has lived in Pagiriai for 50 years, said his children have decided to sell the property he and his wife gave them and move elsewhere because of the plant’s operations.
“They measured the noise level on their plot and saw that the situation is bad,” Dudutis said. He himself does not want to leave and believes the factory should relocate.
According to residents, the air often carries a pungent smell of wood and varnish. They also point to several incidents at the plant, including equipment malfunctions that allegedly led to emissions being released into the environment.
Late last year, production wastewater collection lines became clogged, and in June, wood fibre spread into the surrounding area, residents said.
One resident described the constant noise as “like a plane hovering above the house that never flies away”, calling it “torture”.
Vilnius District Mayor Robert Duchnevič said the municipality understands the concerns but noted the scale of the investment.
“We fully understand that this is an investment of more than 240 million euros, and there can be no talk of demolition, especially given the German capital and strategic partners involved,” he said.
Both the mayor and the prime minister said regulatory authorities must more actively monitor the company’s operations and possible pollution.
“Investment is very important for Lithuania, not only at the international but also at the local level. However, any investor, any business that comes here and creates jobs must not forget our laws,” Ruginienė said.
Vytautas Vyskupaitis, head of the Pagiriai community association Medeina, said the company has been inspected multiple times and fined on a few occasions.
“It has been checked many times. Was it fined? Yes, maybe a couple of times,” he said, adding that earlier violations included construction without proper environmental impact assessment and required permits.
In a written comment, Homanit Lietuva said it could not provide an interview due to scheduled work but added that it complies with the law and cooperates with supervisory authorities, the local community and the municipality.
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