The mayor of Vilnius district municipality Marija Rekst presented mayors and administrations activity report of 2017 and overviewed the most important and exciting events of 2017 in the Vilnius area at the Vilnius District Municipal Council meeting, which took place in March this year.
The evaluation of the Municipality and the achievements of 2017 - the result of joint efforts and targeted activities.
The evaluation of the Municipality noted well targeted districts activity in 2017. Vilnius District Municipality hit record-high 6th place in the annual index of large and small municipalities published by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute. For the second time in a row investment and development were indicated as the most appreciated fields of Vilnius district municipality. In 2017 Vilnius District Municipality took 8th place among the 60 municipalities of Lithuania in the list created according the research called “The map of business barriers 2017” (lt. „Verslo kliūčių žemėlapis 2017”) initiated by “Citadele” bank. The results of the research showed that Vilnius district municipality is one of the least barrier-creating, the most business-friendly, adapted for business development and providing the most favorable conditions for the business among the other municipalities. At the end of the year Vilnius District Municipality was honoured and thanked at the annual event organized by the Vilnius Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts for willingness to participate in all initiatives: the development of employment of the population, the development of socio-economic activities and for the best results achieved in 2017.
Focus on population employment and business development
Vilnius district municipality is one of the few, which can be proud of the growth of the population. According to the data of the Population Register Service, 102 268 residents live in the district of Vilnius, 604 new residents declared their place of residence in 2017, mostly by choosing Avižieniai, Riešė, Zujūnai, Sudervė and Dūkštos elderships.
In 2017, in the district of Vilnius the number of unemployed decreased - on 1st of January 2018, 8.7 percent of the unemployed was registered (national average 8.7%), it is 0.6 percent less than in the last year. The Vilnius District Municipality, in close cooperation with the Territorial Labour Office, has implemented the Public Works Program and the Local Employment Initiative project, in which 226 people were recruited and 41 new jobs were created and maintained, in order to increase peoples employment abilities and opportunities to integrate into the labour market more quickly.
The municipality is very pleased with the growing number of entrepreneurs and efficient business development in the area. Taking care of the level of entrepreneurship of the population the municipality advises entrepreneurs on issues related to business creation and development and has established Small and Medium Business Support Fund. In 2017 support was provided to 29 business entities who have invested in the modernization and development of their business.
To ensure the welfare of the population - successful implementation of investment projects
Vilnius District Municipality seeks to justify the expectations of its residents and satisfy their needs in the most important areas of social life in a responsible and purposeful way. Currently, the municipality has used EU support for over 50 projects that are worth 33.4 million euro. It is likely that in 2018-2019 residents of the Vilnius district will enjoy the results of most of the projects.
The Vilnius district municipality creates great conditions and opportunities for those who like sports by investing in new sports objects. In 2017 Vilnius district sports school biathlon shooting facility and sports fields located near Konstanty Parczewski Gymnasium in Nemenčinė and Gediminas Gymnasium in Nemenčinė were opened. The project was financed by the Vilnius District Municipality, state budget and EU funds.
To cherish ethnic culture, amateur art, educational activities, the Municipality invests in various cultural objects that support and develop these areas. By fostering the attractiveness of the districts settlements, improving and creating safe, neat and beautiful spaces, the Municipality carries out the supervision of cultural heritage objects in the Vilnius district.
With the help of European Union support funds for 2014-2020 it is planned to arrange the manors of Glitiškės and Mozūriškės, as well as to reconstruct and adapt the old dormitory in Rudamina for cultural activities. In order to complete the Houwalt manor infrastructure, it is planned to carry out a project financed by the EU funds which is called "Organizing the public space of the Houwalt Manor in the Maišiagala Traditional Craft Center" (lt. „Tradicinių amatų centro Houvalto dvare Maišiagaloje viešosios erdvės sutvarkymas“). This year, an old building in Savičiūnai (Rukainiai sen.) will be also renovated and adapted to the needs of the community.
In order to improve the welfare of the residents, the Vilnius District Municipality implements projects for the complex arrangement of Nemenčinė, Juodšiliai and Maišiagala settlements, which will renew sports fields in these areas, Nemenčinė town square and market place, market place and square in Maišiagala, what is more, new pedestrian and bicycle trails will be arranged. The total value of these projects is over 3.5 million euro.
In 2017, 4 more educational space modernization projects were approved: Meilė Lukšienė Gymnasium in Marijampolė, Rukainiai Gymnasium, St. Raphael Kalinowski Gymnasiun in Nemėžis and Mickūnai Gymnasium.
Important investments in the economy of Municipality
The municipality creates comfortable living conditions evenly throughout the district. In 2017 road maintenance and development works have been carried out - roads and streets of local importance are constantly being maintained, erected and repaired, new pavements are laid, road signs are installed, and bicycle pathway system is expanded.
This year in the district of Vilnius, from the funds of several maintenance and development programs, budget and natural and legal persons, 4.9 km of existing asphalt pavement was renovated, 25.2 km of gravel roads were newly paved, road pits were asphalted, gravel roads were erected and renewed. In 2017 the total investment for roads amounted to almost 3.8 million euro.
In 2017 significant number of initiatives with natural or legal persons was taken to co-finance road and street asphalting and gravel road renovation. Over the past year, 15 projects with a total amount of over 1,147 million euro have been successfully co-funded. According these projects 7.8 km of roads and streets of local significance were asphalted.
In order to provide residents of Vilnius district with access to centralized, good quality drinking water and wastewater management, the Municipality invests its budget funds in the reconstruction and development of water management infrastructure and in the construction of new water management objects.
In 2017, for the development of water management infrastructure, the Municipality has allocated more than 1.5 million euro. This year the amount allocated to the Municipalitys water management is almost 70 procent higher than in 2016 and almost 3 times higher than in 2015.
In 2017, 18 water management projects were implemented in Šumskas, Paberžė, Anavilis, Kaniukai, Valčiūnai, Lavoriškės, Mickūnai, Avižieniai, Raudondvaris, Sužionis, Arvydai, Bukiškis, Riešė, Dobromislė, Nemenčinė, Rudamina and Survydiškės.
Every year, more and more attention is paid to the technical condition of district apartment buildings. From April 2017 support from the municipal budget funds is provided to owners of apartment houses for repairing the objects. In 2017, 10 apartment buildings have used the support of the Municipality.
In 2017 Vilnius District Municipality Council, to encourage residents to sort the waste, has approved the smaller fee for residents who use individual sorting containers and contribute to the maintenance of a clean environment.
Advantages for Vilnius district farmers
Last year, the Municipality assessed the unfavorable weather conditions for the agricultural sector, exempted more than 3 thousand farmers who have suffered losses due to rainy years from the land tax and made an additional reduction to 50 percent of the calculated tax amount for the land plots of the residential area, single-family houses, and apartment buildings located in the territory of the Vilnius district.
Quality assurance of provided social services
The Vilnius District Municipality qualitatively solves social problems by developing a system of integrated services that enables every child, a disabled person, an elderly person or his or her family (guardians, caretakers) to receive individual services and necessary assistance in the community. The Municipality closely cooperates with non-governmental organizations, other state institutions that are active in the field of social services.
Taking into account the needs of the population and in order to continue successful development of the infrastructure of social services and ensure the quality of social services, the Vilnius Municipality has established a social services center. In 2017 the Vilnius district Family and Child Welfare Center in Geisiškės (Dūkštos eldership) has begun to provide professional social services for children at risk, in order to protect the child, preserve his/her family, ensure a safe environment, provide timely assistance and guarantee emotional and physical safety. At present, the institution can accommodate 16 children for temporary and permanent care. The center also provides assistance to families in crisis and functions as the childrens daycare center. In 2017, Vilnius District Family and Child Crisis Center, located in Kalveliai, purchased a separate house and established community-based orphanage, in which 6 children without parental care can be accommodated for temporary or permanent care.
In the main rooms of the center, complex services are provided for both families and children in crisis situations, as well as the preparation of guardians / adoptive parents. During the period of 2016-2017, the center has prepared 53 gurdians/adoptive parents, who now have a beautiful tradition of joint meetings and leisure, allowing them to spend time with their adopted and guarded children, to share their joys and to solve the difficulties they face. The center also functions as the Children Day Center, which is actively attended by 15 children.
Modern learning environment - to ensure the future of the young generation
We are proud of the achievements and excellent scientific results of students of our district. In 2017, 639 graduate students attended the final exams in Vilnius district. 100 procent Vilnius District Municipality Gymnasia graduates passed state examinations in chemistry, physics, geography, foreign (Russian, German) languages. The pupils of the schools of Vilnius district municipality successfully participated in various international and national Olympiads and competitions. For the first time in the history of Vilnius district, a student from Mickūnai Gymnasium has won the 1st place in the Biology Olympiad.
The Municipality, in order to create a more modern, higher quality learning environment for pupils with high results, allocates more and more funds to modernize educational institutions and the educational environment. Education is a priority area of the Vilnius District Municipality, therefore in 2017, 4 million euro from the municipality budget funds was allocated to this field. While improving the infrastructure of educational institutions of the Vilnius District Municipality and implementing the program for improving the quality of education and its accessibility, 29 educational institutions of Vilnius district were reconstructed and repaired.
Currently, educational institutions in Vilnius district have 37 school buses - 15 yellow buses and 22 other school buses, 14 of which have been purchased by the Municipality.
Cultural and sports achievements
In 2017, the aim of the Municipality was to establish culture not only as a specific field of public policy but also as a strategic development. The Municipality seeks to help uncover, preserve and develop the cultural identity and creative potential of the society.
In 2017 over 300 concerts and over 30 concert tours abroad have been organized by the multifunctional cultural centers of Nemenčinė and Rudamina. Last year, 7 art groups were created at multifunctional cultural centers. The number of youth groups has increased, so more children and young people can easily choose an activity they like.
Organized events attract more and more visitors, new art groups are formed, which shows that institutions meet the cultural needs of the population, develop creative initiative, make leisure time relevant, take into account the needs of the society and enable each member to participate in cultural processes.
By educating and shaping the cultural needs of the residents of the district, special attention is paid to social risk groups, therefore, children, families with no wealth, seniors are actively invited to attend free performances and events. It attracts people of all ages, expands the amateur creative activity.
One of the most important priorities of the Vilnius district municipality is to increase the interest of people of all ages in physical education and sport.
Multifunctional cultural centers in Nemenčinė and Rudamina establish sports training methodologist posts. The main task of the people who are accepted to perform these duties is to interest physical activity of the population according to their (sports methodologist) work location. At present, 11 sports methodologists work on this basis in the district of Vilnius.
From 2017 the biathlon shooting range, successfully operating in Nemenčinė, leads to the development of an effective biathlon sports branch in Vilnius district and throughout Lithuania. The biathlon succeeds in attracting not only children from surrounding settlements, but also young people from the capital. All sports objects have already been built in the Nemenčinė shooting range, and the Vilnius District Municipality allocated 344 thousand euro for the construction.
