Italy’s Gemmo will not upgrade street lighting networks in Vilnius

“I may say that a year ago the council of Vilnius local authority concluded a contract, the implementation of which had to be launched by 28 April 2015. I think it is obvious today that the implementation of this contract has not been launched since the term [to secure financing] has not been extended… and the problems have not been fully addressed,” he told BNS.

Gemmo had not submitted any proposal for financing to new Vilnius authorities, he said.

“That plan has fallen through. They haven’t come with a proposal for financing. The goal is to make Vilnius lit at night. We will announce the specific model in the near time,” Šimašius said.

The local authority’s contract with Gemmo, which won a respective tender, had to come into effect on 28 April, which was the deadline for the investor to find sources of financing for the project.

In mid-April, Gemmo said that it had received a preliminary proposal for financing from the European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF) and was working on technical details with the prospective provider of financing.

In line with the deal, Gemmo and Estonia’s VSLS were to upgrade street lighting in the Lithuanian capital in a couple of years. They were to invest 31.3 million euros in the upgrade of city networks and then operate and maintain them during eighteen years. The total value of the deal was estimated to reach some 98 million euros.