Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said a powerful weekend storm, which left around 270,000 customers without electricity, had exposed long-standing structural problems in Lithuania’s power infrastructure that had gone unaddressed for years.
“It is clear that this storm has laid bare old issues that remained unaddressed, and as a result, we have the current situation. Today, we must focus on rapid recovery and move forward. Then, we will return to strategic decisions,” Sinkevičius said on Monday.
He added that while immediate disaster relief was the priority, longer-term structural measures would need to follow. Sinkevičius said the main bottleneck was not clearing debris but a shortage of specialised electrical workers.
Underground cabling proposed as long-term fix
Energy Minister Lukas Savickas called for systemic changes, particularly accelerating the move to underground power cables.
