“A victorious day for Vilnius and the entire Lithuania. This was one of the last decisive steps in the era of the construction of the National Stadium having lasted three decades, which we successfully put an end to in a few years. I want to thank each Council member for demonstrated responsibility and for taking final steps to the finishing line – the demolition of the wreckage of the old stadium and construction of a new one” – Remigijus Šimašius, the Mayor of Vilnius, said in his congratulations speech, Go Vilnius announced in a press release.
According to him, the team of representatives of the City Administration and the Government reached in negotiations with a concessionaire the best possible deal for the city – Vilnius will get a National Stadium, 15 other sports objects, an athletics centre compliant with 1 IAAF requirements, a kindergarten for 300 children, a cultural centre, a library and well-arranged surrounding infrastructure financing only a small part of the entire project in return.
Currently, the stadium construction concession is being negotiated with Axis Industries. It plans to implement the project with Venetus Capital, Kauno Arena, Populous and Cloud Architects for EUR 79.9 million (exclusive of VAT). The concession agreement will be concluded with the private investor for 25 years.
The private investor AB Axis Industries plans to build a football stadium with at least 15 thousand seats and a sports museum. The stadium is only a part of the multifunctional complex, building together with it another 15 sports objects – 1 athletics centre compliant with IAAF requirements, which will allow holding international athletics competitions in Vilnius, 6 basketball halls, 3 football training fields, a handball, gymnastics and boxing hall. The complex will also have a kindergarten for 300 children, a centre for cultural and educational activities and a library.
The Government has committed to invest a total of EUR 53 million in the construction, maintenance of the complex and the events to be held there (20 days per year) in the upcoming 25 years. The City will manage the kindergarten, library and some of the premises designated for non-formal education planned in the complex, the Department of Physical Education and Sports will be in charge of the sports museum, and the concessionaire will own the remaining part of the complex.