Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis: “Reorientation of the transport sector towards the West is the biggest achievement of recent years”
Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis says that the last few years have been a period of significant changes in the Lithuanian transport sector. Speaking at the Transport Innovation Forum, the largest transport and logistics event in the Baltic States, Mr Skuodis called the reorientation of the transport sector towards the West the biggest achievement; however, he emphasised that this process is still ongoing and must continue.
In a discussion with Jurgis Adomavičius, Chairman of the Board of the Transport Innovation Association, Mr Skuodis welcomed the major breakthroughs that have taken place in this area in recent years: regular freight train routes to Germany have been launched, the international train routes Vilnius–Warsaw and Vilnius–Riga have started, the construction of the Via Baltica is taking place on an unprecedented scale, and container handling in the Port of Klaipėda has exceeded the one million unit mark two years in a row.
“Today we have the beginning of what we have been aiming at for a long time,” said the Minister of Transport and Communications, pointing out that the integration of the transport sector into the West is still ongoing. “We have integrated politically, we are part of the defence structures, we have completed our economic integration with Lithuania’s membership in the euro area, and synchronisation in the energy sector is almost complete. But there is still the railway network, the completion of Via Baltica with its alternative connections and the discovery of even more opportunities for businesses. This will complete Lithuania’s full integration into the West.”
Mr Skuodis wished the next Government to shift greater “financial focus” on road infrastructure. He said that the condition of roads has been currently stabilised, strategic and military mobility projects are being implemented, bridges and viaducts are being repaired at a fast pace, but there should be even more attention in this area in the future.
“This year we reached a record investment of one billion, but we are ready to do much more. It will be a strategic choice of where to divert finance from. (...) The most significant thing is that there are clear priorities and directions, and it is important that this does not change with changing governments,” said Mr Skuodis.
The sixth Transport Innovation Forum, which opened today in Vilnius, focuses on intermodal transport, military logistics, the future of fossil fuels, the potential of green hydrogen, the business benefits of digitalisation and artificial intelligence, innovations in urban mobility, and last mile logistics solutions.
Last updated: 11-10-2024
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