Lithuanian expatriates lose their country retreat in UK

The hotel with a restaurant, a camping site and a lake is valued at several million pounds.

Part of the Lithuanian community in the UK blame this on poor management and drunken brawls by Lithuanians, while others think that it was in some people’s interests to ruin the hotel, which served as a country retreat for Lithuanians living in the UK.

Zita Čepaitė, who has been suspended as chairwoman of the Lithuanian Community in the UK (LCUK) for allegedly failing to properly represent the community’s interests regarding the Lithuanian Sodyba (Homestead), told Lietuvos Žinios that the owner of the hotel had around 400,000 pounds in debts.

The LCUK holds a 52-percent stake in the company that owned the Lithuanian Sodyba and the remaining shares are held by Lietuvių Socialinis ir Sporto Klubas (Lithuanian Social and Sports Club), private individuals and the US-based Lithuanian National Foundation.

Artūras Indriūnas, who headed the Lithuanian Sodyba for several months in 2013, told the paper that when he was at the helm of the hotel, the company had annual revenue of 460,000 to 500,000 pounds. The hotel repaid 27,000 pounds in a month and a half and expected to pay off its debts within a certain period of time.