Vilnius city council (Lithuania) together with the Department of Sports under the Government has launched a tender to find a concessionaire for the Vilnius Multifunctional Hub.

Originally envisioned as a national stadium, the Government of Lithuania and Vilnius city council revised the goals of the project substantially in 2013, redefining it as a multifunctional hub. Since then, a new concept has been prepared. The revised scope of the project includes an approximately 15,000 seater stadium, up to 1,500 square meters of space for a sports museum, and other educational and sports facilities.

Under a 25-year concession agreement, the concessionaire will be responsible for designing, building, maintaining, operating and providing event planning services for public cultural events, alongside other events.

A total capital investment of approximately €88.4 million (US$99.6 million) is envisaged for the project, with approximately 35% of this expected to come from EU structural funds. Additionally, the Government has capped the present value of its contribution related to the project at €53.4 million (US$60.1 million).

Prior to the launch of the tender, a number of public consultations were held with the intention to discuss and potentially improve and clarify the conditions of the project for the potential bidders.

The tender documents have been published and can be found at the Vilnius Municipality webpage .

The deadline for submission of participation requests for the Vilnius Multifunctional Hub tender is the 7^th of October 13:00.

The Procuring authorities expect to have completed the concession tender process and signed a three-part concession agreement with a preferred bidder by the third quarter of 2018.

Invest Lithuania acted as a public sector consultant who helped to structure the new project concept and later provided consultations on the preparation of concession tender documentation. It is a government agency that provides free advice and introductions to on the ground experts for global companies interested in doing business in Lithuania. The agency serves as a point of contact for foreign companies and guides international businesses through every step of the process of setting up operations in Lithuania.

Tadas Jagminas, Director of the Project Management Department of the foreign investment development agency Invest Lithuania, said:

”Lithuania has successfully implemented many service concessions in the recreation, sports and entertainment sectors. Such experience shows that we are ready to forge ahead and apply this model to larger projects that are already attracting interest from numerous international investors.”