Lithuanian company to end housing payments for Ukrainian families

Lithuanian energy company Litgrid has decided to stop covering rental housing costs for around 30 Ukrainian families, a move supported by Lithuania’s Minister of Energy.

Litgrid paid for their rent and utilities, at a cost of approximately €200,000 per year, Caliber.Az reports, citing Lithuanian media.

Initially, the company responded to a request from the Ukrainian side to accommodate families of employees of Ukraine’s Ukrenergo and pledged to support them until the end of the war.

However, after four years, amid the ongoing conflict, a decision was made to terminate the funding programme.

The families of Ukrainian energy workers sought refuge in Lithuania since the start of the war.

Former company CEO Rokas Masiulis said the assistance was originally intended as a temporary measure until the end of the war.

The current management stressed that the programme was voluntary and could not continue indefinitely.

Ukrainian families, however, say many of them are unable to return home and are facing difficulties finding housing and employment in Lithuania.

One resident, Liudmila, said her family has already had to start over twice — first after the events of 2014 in Donetsk and later after the destruction of Mariupol in 2022.

Lithuania’s Energy Minister stated that the country will continue supporting Ukraine, but such programmes must be more sustainable and balanced so as not to create additional social burdens.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov