Baltic States – CIS, Construction, Legislation, Lithuania, Real Estate

Alma Vaitkunskiene, the municipality's director of administration, says that the project was initiated by the heads of the city 12 years ago and the municipal company is only the developer.

"It is obvious that the local authority of Vilnius does not need such a building in Moscow now that the geopolitical situation has changed," the official told the paper.

"The local authority has no budget funds to carry out the project. The budget does not allocate funding for the construction of the Vilnius House in Moscow. As soon as we receive recommendations from independent law experts as to the best way to liquidate the company, we will do so," she said.

The municipal Vilniaus Vystymo Kompanija (Vilnius Development Company, or VVK) established the subsidiary company, called Vilniaus Namai Maskvoje (Vilnius House in Moscow) in early 2007. VVK holds a 50 percent stake in the project developer and a state enterprise authorized by the Moscow government owns the other 50 percent.

The Vilnius House of Moscow was allocated 30 ares of land in the Russian capital, close to the Olympic Village, more than 10 years ago, but construction has not yet begun. A similar project of the Russian capital, the so-called Moscow House in Vilnius, was at the same time allocated 14 ares of land in the Lithuanian capital, close to the Zalgiris Stadium.

Lithuania's State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate last week asked a court to annul the construction permit for the Moscow House in Vilnius.