Auditor General: 40-65% of food reserve funds unspent in 2022-2024
„The use of the funds shows that there has not been a real focus on this. From 2022 to 2025, €12.6 million has been spent, but if we look at such clear turning points - 2022 and 2023, when the country really had to pull itself together in the face of the horrific invasion of Ukraine - we see that 65% of the funds allocated to the reserve were unspent in 2022 and 58% in 2023, In 2024 – 37% of the allocations for the reserve“, – I. Segalovičienė told LRT radio on Monday.
„Even some of them (unused funds – BNS), for example, in the last year 2024 – 25% of those unused funds were simply reallocated to the institutions“, – she added.
According to the Auditor General, no long-term plan has been developed to ensure the continuity of the accumulation of state reserves in the face of threats, but rather a focus on short-term annual plans, which results in the accumulation of reserves „by eye“.
„Everybody says there is a shortage of money, but our audit showed that money was not being used – about half of the money in the reserve. In the same way, the municipalities have several hundred million euros unused. There is money in the state, but the issue is one of management, decisions, consistency, planning," said the Auditor General.
Food stockpiling targets are not being met, she said: „The food stockpiling targets for 2024 have only been met by 17%, so surely we can't say that we have everything we need.“
According to Ms Segalovičienė, there are also shortcomings in logistics and food storage.
„Today we see very clearly that we need a very serious focus on decentralisation of warehouses (...). There must also be a logistics arrangement from the warehouses to specific locations. Today there is no plan in place for how the State is going to act on the ground," said the Auditor General.
The situation of the medical, transport and civil protection reserve is improving, she said: „In 2023, we had 25 per cent of the medical reserve, now we have 50 per cent.“
I. Segalovičienė argues that the method of reserving foodstuffs based on their value or weight, but not on volume and space, is not financially efficient.
„Whether to buy, store or reserve – it's all about the calculations and I would really like to see them based on a really serious assessment of efficiency and threat scenarios“, – she said.
According to the Auditor General, municipalities do not accumulate a food reserve in case of a potential crisis, as this needs better legal regulation: „In this case, it needs to be very clearly documented at a high level regarding the fourth-sixth day, because now, in fact, some are interpreting that it is their duty, others are saying it is not.
Mindaugas Sinkevičius: the issue will be resolved by the end of the mandate
Mindaugas Sinkevičius, chairman of the Social Democratic Party, says that if sufficient funds are not currently allocated to implement the recommendations of the State Audit Office, the issue of funding will be revisited.
„I can assure you that after four (three – BNS) years there will be nothing to examine, because the issue will be examined and resolved“, – M. Sinkevičius said on Monday.
Last week, he said an auditors' inquiry showed that the state could not take care of its citizens in a crisis and said this constituted criminal negligence and promised to launch an inquiry into his stewardship of the state.
„I think there is probably already an assignment for lawyers and we will see in reality whether it is possible and there is a prospect of going to the Prosecutor General's Office to defend the public interest,– the ruling party leader said on Monday.
For his part, the president of the Association of Municipalities, Audrius Klišonis, said that municipalities need „a precise algorithm from the Ministry of Agriculture“ and additional money to be ready to provide the population with food on the fourth to sixth days during the emergency situation.
BNS wrote that the State Audit Office found that the system for accumulating and managing the reserve does not ensure that it is sufficient, adequate and, if necessary, promptly delivered to the right place. The State Audit Office made 16 recommendations to the authorities responsible for the State reserve.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said last week that she had instructed the Food Council, set up last year and chaired by Agriculture Minister Andrius Palionis, to formulate proposals in the spring on how to improve the formation of the state reserve.
I. Ruginienė proposed to change the procedure of the reserve and to buy more products from farmers and donate them to the needy when they expire. She said this was to reduce food waste, as well as to encourage local businesses and farmers and to help those in need.
A. Palionis said he welcomed the proposal to buy more products from farmers for the reserve, but said more money was needed for this.
The President of the Association of Municipalities said that due to the lack of funds, no municipality would be able to fully supply the population with food for three days, and only some municipalities have reservation contracts.
Simonas Gurevičius, Member of the Municipal Council and head of the "Food Bank", previously said that during the drafting of the state budget for 2026, the Council did not discuss additional funding for the reserve or its warehouses.
The state reserve is used in times of emergency or crisis, in the event of a mobilisation, state of emergency or martial law.
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