"A historic event took place in Ukmergė as a bust of one of the most prominent founders of the State of Lithuanian was unveiled," the local municipality said the bust on a 1.8 metre high pedestal was erected in central Ukmergė an exact copy of the one that stood there in the 1930s It was destroyed during the Soviet occupation the day chosen for the unveiling ceremony was not a coincidence as on April 4 Smetona was elected Lithuania's first president Smetona served as president of Lithuania in 1919–1920 as well as 1926–1940 following a military coup Proposals to build a statue dedicated to the leader in Vilnius has been met with mixed reactions He died in a fire at his home in the United States in 1944 Photo: The old town of Ukmerge is one of the seven most heritage-rich in the country Photo: Ukmerge mound looms on the bank of the river Sventoji Photo: The Siesikai Castle is one of the earliest Renaissance buildings in Lithuania Photo: The Musia Pond is the most popular place for leisure and swimming in summer Photo: Mirabeles trail for pedestrians and cyclists along the river Sventoji the Ukmerge municipality in central Lithuania was rewarded the coveted bronze statuette of "Auksine Krivule" (Golden Curve) (Krivule is a symbolic stick used to invite people to a community meeting The prestigious reward “For innovation according to Lithuanian Minister of Social Security and Labor Monika Navickiene for being the flagship for other local governments in increasing availability of social housing The Baltic Times Magazine spoke to Darius Varnas about this honorable municipal award and why Ukmerge is the right place to live and invest  Why is this award important to you?  Presenting the "Golden Curve" statuette to the Mayor of Ukmerge District Municipality Minister of Social Security and Labor Monika Navickiene said that we are receiving this self-government "Oscar" for being a flagship – standing out from all the other municipalities by increasing the availability of social housing the most This award is very important for our municipal team as it was received for consistent work in making not the easiest decisions I am glad that those decisions contributed to housing affordability for low-income residents of our district and that the quality of housing improved in many cases the topic of social housing is quite sensitive throughout Lithuania 70 flats for the purpose – it was by so many that the Municipality increased the availability of social housing during 2018-2022 Modernizing the abandoned and dilapidated former school dormitory that stood empty for many years made it feasible – in all Another 35 flats for the purpose were installed in the former building of the Ukmerge children's care home after the children were moved in family like-groups to live in separate houses bought by the Municipality the number of people (families) waiting for social housing in the district decreased from 312 to 87 The average waiting time for social housing is 2-2.5 years And in 2024 we plan to expand the social housing availability by purchasing flats for large families and persons with disabilities For the expansion of social housing affordability the municipality also successfully uses the resources obtained from the auction sale of social housing that is not fit for living bathroom and toilet facilities.  During 2018-2022 How would you introduce Ukmerge to those who know the mere fact that it is in the middle of Lithuania The symbol of the origins of the town of Ukmerge is a mound standing on the bank of the river Sventoji one of the seven most distinguished old towns in the country it's hard to resist the temptation to immerse yourself in the wonders of the legends of Vilkmerge a holy sacrifice – all of them are still cherished and retold Ukmerge is a city with the oldest traditions where Vytautas the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte left their footprints This is the land that gave Lithuania its first president Ukmerge is not only a refreshing escape from the bustling life of a big city but it also offers many opportunities for nature lovers one million and 200 thousand inhabitants live around Ukmerge within a distance of 70 kilometers It takes up to one hour to get to the biggest citiesVilnius during 2019-2023 we have completed several solid projects: a more than 5-kilometer-long section of bicycle and pedestrian path connecting the  city of Ukmerge with the settlement of Vidiškiai has been installed on the national highway A6 Kaunas-Zarasai-Daugpilis; public spaces in the center of Ukmerge Friendship Square and Pilies Park and its vicinity have been modernized; a pedestrian path has been built on the  banks of the Sventoji River and an attractive public space suitable for passive and active leisure time has been created; a 12.5-hectare Health Park has been established next to the Ukmerge hospital; a square in Vilnius Street has been opened as well as the main intersection in the city was reconstructed; the former military town of the long-gone Soviet Army and its adjacent territory (20 ha in total) were cleared and new leisure infrastructure was created; two roundabouts were installed; almost 30 kilometres of streets and roads were paved; Ukmerge Hospital had many of its departments modernized the sports halls of many schools were renovated and their lighting was improved; the street lighting has been modernized in the entire city The municipality was one of the first in the country to modernize its existing transport fleet by purchasing three ecological and economical electric cars a 3.6 MW solar power park was built in Ukmerge as well as the southern bypass project was initiated and revived; in addition the installation of water supply and sewage networks in gardeners' communities was met very positively by most of the population.  And what are the main companies of Lithuanian or foreign capital in the municipality We have quite a few strong and famous companies We often ask ourselves the question: why did the wealthy landlords build mansions in the Ukmerge region?  but also because already during the medieval time the region was valued for its advantages and discovered as attractive convenient and strategically located in an excellent geographical position The municipality has several noteworthy proposals for future investors These are unused plots of vacant state land a well-developed logistics and communication network the Ukmerge School of Technology and Business capable of training the necessary wide-profile specialists The attitude of the district authorities towards business is positive we have an approved small and medium-sized business (SME) program which details how entrepreneurs can apply to the Municipality for any business support The coworking space "Spiecius" is also successfully operating in Ukmerge providing a non-traditional type of business development space suitable especially for SME entities to cooperate with each other and expand And what are the most famous sightseeing spots  in Ukmerge which consists of eight manors surrounding the perimeter of the Ukmerge district Among these manors is the mansion-turned-museum of the first president of the Republic of Lithuania has withstood the test of time as one of Lithuania's earliest Renaissance buildings Everyone who visits the "Ring of Manors" experiences the whiff of a manor life Each of those mansions has its own charm – some are in ruins and others became the place of interesting events We also invite everyone to have a fun walk around the city on the interactive route "Singing Pigeons of Ukmerge” to visit the Ukmerge Local History Museum in the city center to see and feel the unique spirit of the old town of Ukmerge to climb the originally illuminated serpentine path to the 14th-15th century mound and do many other things can boast of having mounds in their very center How does the municipality support young families the municipality has been giving all newborns a practical gift the "Newborn's crib" with the necessary items for the first months of the baby's life all first graders in the district receive a set of the most necessary school tools known as the "First-year basket" gift we adopted a program for the stabilization and growth of the population of Ukmerge district which provides benefits for those coming to live here  One of them is the possibility to recover personal income tax (PIT) – up to 50 percent of it.  The municipality along with the state provide young families municipal financial support to purchase their first home The municipality allocates up to 10 percent of the amount of housing credit for the purpose living in rural areas and do not have the technical ability to connect to centralized water supply networks and such networks are not planned to be installed in the next two years – the municipality compensates up to two thousand euro for drilling new water wells and installing the necessary sewage treatment facilities faces a shortage of young specialists (teachers we have prepared programs to attract them to the district Teachers are offered everything from reimbursement of travel expenses an annual cash payment of at least 5,000 euros is provided for the first three years to attract doctors of the missing specialty; compensation for residency studies up to 35,000 euros also the doctor can be allocated municipal housing; if he or she settles in Ukmerge and commits to working here for five years; an allowance of up to 25,000 euros can be paid to the doctor Ukmerge is also attractive to young people because it has excellent conditions for spending their free time sports halls have been renovated in schools beach tennis and other sports fields have been installed on the territory of the former military town.  And what was the year 2023 like for Ukmerge In 2023 Ukmerge celebrated its 690th anniversary many various events were held to mark this occasion We managed to successfully complete many different projects and is perfectly suitable for young families to settle down We invite everyone to explore and experience the charm of Ukmerge A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy Vilnius city municipality informs that traffic changes will be in effect from April 24 until the end of August due to the construction of the Tarandė Tunnel Phase I Vehicles driving in the direction of Ukmerge will be directed to the oncoming traffic during the aforementioned time and vehicles driving in the direction of Vilnius will be directed to the parallel access road to the right in this direction Traffic will be in two lanes in both directions the speed of vehicles on the temporary bypass in the Vilnius direction will be limited to 50 km/h and temporary traffic light regulation will be introduced at the unregulated pedestrian crossing (at the underpass running under Ukmergės Street) Traffic will change during the change period. public transport Location of Bukiškės stop in both directions: reproduction and distribution are permitted only with the written consent of UAB "Naujosios medijos grupė" A few kilometres outside the town of Ukmergė a 600-hectare organic farm is nested in the Lithuanian countryside In its vast field stands a little reconstructed red-brick manor It is home to Lithuania’s first certified ecological restaurant run by Icelandic chef Arnór Ingi Bjarkason all grown and cultivated according to sustainable circular farming principles The organic produce is not only made for sale but is also turned into gourmet dishes by the Icelandic chef at the Red Brick restaurant Arnór ended up in Lithuania following a woman He met Lithuanian Lina in Iceland where she was volunteering at the Lithuanian community’s Sunday school almost five years ago “We met thanks to the power of smart apps and just started dating,” Arnór smiles Lina found out she was accepted to study Master of Psychology at Lund University in Sweden the couple moved back to Iceland and tried to settle there but it was not easy for the Lithuanian woman to get a job in her field in a foreign country it’s easier for me to get a job anywhere,” Arnór says The couple moved to Lithuania in July last year Although he “simply jumped on a plane” and came to Lithuania without a plan he landed a job as an executive chef at Pacai so Arnór started looking for job opportunities elsewhere who happened to own the Farmers Circle and other businesses in Lithuania “I asked him if he had plans for the restaurant premises because I wanted to maybe rent it off him,” Arnór says he asked me if I was looking to open a restaurant and offered me to run Red Brick.” He recalls being in awe when he first set foot on the Farmers Circle it is almost every chef’s dream to run a restaurant on a farm where you can go pick fresh ingredients “Not many chefs start by opening a restaurant like this He wasn’t dismayed by the fact that the farm was around an hour’s drive away from Vilnius was a bit more sceptical – having grown up in Vilnius she could not imagine herself living anywhere else in Lithuania Lina now works as the front-of-house manager at the Red Brick and the couple lives in Ukmergė four days a week when the restaurant is open The Red Brick opened its doors in August this year but has already become the first restaurant in Lithuania awarded an official ecological certificate at the silver level which means that 60 to 90 percent of the produce it serves is organic Most of the ingredients Arnór uses to create his dishes are grown right here on the Farmers Circle The rest is sorted locally and only a small portion “I almost always like to use local ingredients with some sort of Japanese twist,” the Icelandic chef says when asked to describe his cooking philosophy “It’s a bit tricky here because I’m trying not to use anything imported but we’re also planning to make our own,” he adds Red Brick’s menu is also highly season-dependent it’s going to be more root vegetables and meat it’s mostly going to be fish and vegetables that I’m already preserving So far, there are no restaurants with Michelin stars – a hallmark of culinary excellence – in Lithuania. It has been reported that the country has concluded an agreement for Michelin inspectors to visit its restaurants in the near future Arnór does not hide the fact that he hopes to be awarded a Michelin star one day “I believe my food is worthy of a Michelin star But there’s maybe one thing I’d like more than a Michelin star which is a Michelin green star,” the chef explains The latter is awarded to the best restaurants that are following sustainable practices “I 100% believe that this restaurant would deserve [the Michelin green star] “Most chefs dream about a Michelin star because it sets a stamp of excellence Arnór says he has been working as a chef “for half of his life” but being a chef was never his top career choice “I rode BMX a lot as a kid and I was making videos But I was very bad at showing up at school and the only thing you need to get into [journalism] school is attendance,” he says he did several internships at high-class restaurants before finally deciding to drop out and continue working full-time as a chef I had an internship in Denmark at the restaurant called Noma which was named the World’s Best restaurant a few years in a row so I just didn’t go back to school,” the chef explains Asked if being a chef has made him a picky eater Arnór says that this is the most common misconception about his profession “You could take me to McDonald’s or cook a frozen pizza for me Most chefs I know are just happy they don’t have to cook at home,” he says one of his favourite dishes is Lithuanian koldūnai (dumplings) I don’t feel like cooking and all I want is a bag of koldūnai with a bit of grietinė [sour cream] My wife is not happy about that,” Arnór smiles This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page which is one of the capital's longest and busiest transport arteries and one of the four city streets where important trunk roads begin is planned to be substantially restructured in Vilnius It is planned that on Ukmergė street traffic organization will change greenery will increase - this is how it is hoped to correct the mistakes of Soviet planning According to Vilnius Mayor Remigijaus Šimašius the project is long-term and should be implemented in separate carefully planned stages within 15-20 years "The average daily traffic volume on Ukmergė Street today fluctuates around 50 It is one of the longest streets in the city an important connection of four city districts leading to the city center and at the same time it is like the northern gate of the city.  In the reconstruction of Ukmergė street, where the A2 main road to Panevėžys begins, Vilnius city municipality used the office of architects "Pupa - strategic urban planning" Architects prepared guidelines for how the 4,5-kilometer section of Ukmergės Street from Ozo Street and the Western Bypass should change It is expected that Ukmergės Street will be managed according to the good practice of Western cities, when it will start with social public functions and spaces, modern public transport and infrastructure development it is planned to build about 10 kilometers of bicycle and pedestrian paths and create a 250-acre square near the street After the narrowing of the traffic lanes on the street to the minimum standard sizes an additional continuous lane will be allocated for public transport which will be separated from the pedestrian and bicycle paths by greenery Pedestrian paths separated from car traffic and parking lots by greenery will be designed on both sides of the street The renovation of the Šeškina underpass and the installation of new underpasses adapted for people with special needs are also planned "Not only do huge traffic flows pass through the street every day - the number of residential housing projects and business centers near the street is growing rapidly It is the quality of life here that raises the most questions because for now the locals have to spend their free time in shopping centers" says the founder and architect of Pupa - strategic urbanism While planning the long-term vision of the street renovation the architects proposed to establish active sports and entertainment grounds Ukmergės street has already started to be cleaned by planting it with greenery and trees The construction of pedestrian and bicycle paths is expected to start in 2019 It is planned that the technical proposals for the other stages of the transformation - planting the park reorganizing the street traffic - will be presented to the public in the first half of next year Ukmergės Street is one of the oldest in the capital It underwent significant transformations in the 1980s Ukmergė street vision, work progress, plans and visualizations to download and the number of offenders almost doubled Taxis are allowed to drive in lane A again as the investigation revealed that their movement does not significantly affect the speed of public transport "We aim to make travel by public transport as fast and convenient as possible and the citizens notice this - passenger flows are increasing When renewing the bus and trolleybus fleet we are also thinking about ways to shorten the journey itself We will pay special attention to the development of A lanes and the control of violators The results of the pilot project on Ukmergė street showed that we are going in the right direction" October month. in part of Ukmergė Street, curbs were installed, which separated the A lane and limited the access of potential violators to it, as well as the movement of 4+, taxi cars was prohibited. At the beginning of November, for two weeks on weekdays, SĮ "Communication servicesmonitored the section from I Šeinius to Saltoniškiės stops - recorded changes in the speed of public transport The separation of the public transport lane helped to reduce the number of offenders by almost two times In the sections where there is no physical separation 313 violations were recorded during one hour of the morning rush hour After installing curbs and allowing public transport electric cars and taxis to move on the part of Ukmergė Street the speed of public transport in the section from Igno Šeiniaus to the Šeškinė polyclinic stop increased by up to 18 percent from Šeškinė polyclinic to the Ukmergė stop - up to 24 percent and from Ukmergė to the Šeškinė stop - even up to 30 percent up to 15 thousand people travel along Ukmergė Street in the direction of the center for whom journeys have already become faster - we estimate that during the morning peak we will save up to 180 passenger hours every working day there are 36 kilometers of A lanes in the city and their network is planned to be expanded Passenger surveys show that the speed of travel is one of the factors that encourage citizens to choose public transport," says Modesta Gusarovienė Currently, in the city of Vilnius, violations in the public transport lanes are recorded and installed on the streets speedometers and the majority of trolleybuses and buses are equipped with video recorders and video cameras the number of which is planned to be increased next year Police officers who organize raids and control driving in the A lanes also contribute it is planned to use new speed meters for control which will help to identify offenders driving on public transport lanes even more efficiently Public transport lanes in Vilnius are installed by assessing passenger flows consistency of the existing A-lane network as well as the impact on car speed and general traffic movement and throughput During 2020-2021 A lanes are tentatively planned to be installed on T Other streets where public transport lanes could be created or their control strengthened in order to increase the speed of public transport will also be evaluated It is reminded that there are several category A lanes in the city taxis and 4+ cars can go on some without public transport the construction of the 8-story business center U219 has been completed The project was implemented and administered by UAB Šeškinės projektai a real estate development company belonging to the AB Panevėžys statybos tresto (PST) group of companies The total area of ​​the building reaches 23 thousand. square meters, of which more than 15 thousand are allocated to tenants. sq. m. Under the building there is a multi-storey, 6,4 thousand. sq. m. area underground parking lot A total of 315 parking spaces are available in and around the building The office of PST in Vilnius was also located in the building "U219 was built near one of the longest streets in Vilnius which connects the central and sleepy districts of the capital as well as the northern gate of the city - the main road A2 This is one of the advantages appreciated by the tenants - the location of the building ensures fast and convenient communication with both the center of the capital and other districts as well as the ability to go smoothly to other Lithuanian cities the business center is built on one of the highest places in the city so panoramic views of Vilnius can be seen from the windows," says Adomas Jokubaitis director of the company "Šeškinės projektai" belonging to the PST group of companies another advantage of the business center is modern engineering systems that create a healthy working environment The project will seek to obtain BREEAM New Construction a certificate that confirms the highest building design and construction standards contributing to environmental protection and a healthy working environment Great attention during the design of U219 is dedicated to ensuring indoor air quality smart lighting that complies with good international practices and sound resistance that blocks external noise leisure and recreation areas are equipped for the convenience of tenants green terraces are planted with medicinal herbs and berry bushes Employees can come to the office by bicycle - the building has bicycle storage changing rooms with showers and clothes dryers U219 attracted the attention of the international architectural community even in the design stage The business center was presented on the most visited architecture and design news platform Archdaily The facility is also featured in the book Office Design: Architecture today alongside the most striking new office buildings from around the world The project of the business center was created by the architectural studio CLOUD (UAB "Cloud architects") hopes that the building will become a new impetus for the development of the Ukmergė street area: "This is an exceptional office building for the city and for us as authors: bold The architectural idea of ​​the business center is an easily recognizable object with a clear emotion The atrium in it visually connects the movement inside and outside allows you to feel the hustle and bustle of the street." PST is one of the largest construction companies in Lithuania: according to 2019 in terms of sales revenue it took first place in this sector and entered the top 1000 largest business enterprises operating in the country The PST group of companies currently employs more than 108,5 people and is one of the largest taxpayers in the country's construction sector The consolidated sales revenue of PST and its controlled companies reached 14 million last year While the trees are still on their way to the capital the first works are starting on one of the most important arteries of the city - Ukmergės Street a total of: will be planted in various places in the capital - both in public spaces and along the streets: Vilnius City Municipality has been actively investing in urban greening in recent years healthier and climate-resilient urban environment These initiatives are part of a larger urban green strategy with which Vilnius aims to become not only an attractive but also a more sustainable European city