"The current premises of the Agriculture Ministry are 2.5 times larger than it needs in terms of the number of employees," Surplys told.
"The relocation will make the ministry more flexible, more mobile (...), which will help us save 200,000 euros per year," he said. "We plan to spend 1.13 mln euros on the relocation."
Around 280 employees of the ministry, the National Paying Agency and the National Land Service are planned to be moved to the new premises in Kaunas, the minister said.
A socio-economic analysis carried out by the ministry has shown that it will need 3,900-square-meter premises in Kaunas, down from the current 9,100 square meters.
Plans call for moving the ministry and the agencies subordinate to it to Kaunas next year. The ministry expects this to help improve the Vilnius-Kaunas interconnection, open up new possibilities for the region's development and save public funds.
A "mirror" ministry with several tens of employees is planned to open in Kaunas in late March. All public procurement procedures are expected to be finalized by December 2019 so that the ministry could complete the relocation in the first quarter of 2020.
