Vilnius approves €1 million to upgrade emergency shelters

Vilnius City Council on Wednesday approved a funding package worth one million euros aimed at improving the accessibility and preparedness of emergency shelters across the Lithuanian capital. The money, drawn from the municipal budget, will be directed toward three areas: making shelters easier to access, installing window protection, and helping applicants prepare the paperwork needed for shelter development programs run by the Interior Ministry.

Eligible applicants include apartment building associations as well as state and municipal institutions in Vilnius whose premises are, or could be, listed as official shelters. Educational institutions without officially designated shelters can also apply for funding to install window protection.

To qualify, shelters must remain accessible to residents around the clock, every day of the week. Any obstacles blocking entry must be removable within five minutes, and each site must have a backup entry route along with several people responsible for ensuring access.

Focus on municipal buildings

Žygimantas Solovjovas, head of the municipality's Civil Protection Division, said the initial rollout would target roughly 12 to 13 percent of the city's shelters, most of which sit in municipally owned buildings.

Applicants can receive up to 20,000 euros per funding round. The city will cover as much as 95 percent of the cost of installing automatic or remote unlocking systems, capped at 5,000 euros, while other access upgrades will be reimbursed at up to 40 percent, capped at 1,000 euros.

For window protection, facilities can receive up to 15,200 euros, covering up to 80 percent of eligible costs. Measures such as protective films, shutters and shields can be installed either inside a shelter or on a building's ground floor if no shelter exists or the existing one is too small.

The third stream of funding offers full reimbursement for preparing technical designs and other documents needed to apply for the Interior Ministry's shelter infrastructure programs, plus coverage of up to 80 percent of additional required technical work. Final funding will only go to facilities that meet the Interior Ministry's shelter requirements once the work is complete.