Ž. Šilgalis was appointed as the head of ŠRATC on August 31, 2020. He states that the decision to resign was made by mutual agreement of the parties.
“After almost six years of work, I am leaving this position by mutual agreement of the parties. Due to family circumstances and place of residence, I am unable to agree with the shareholders’ desire to practically eliminate the possibility of partial remote work. This was offered to me a couple of years ago, when due to changed circumstances I was ready to finish work at ŠRATC, but at that time the cases with the former MBA operator were not yet completed and the €4.5 million debt, which I found when I started managing the institution, and almost €800 thousand of accrued interest were not fully settled, so I stayed with the possibility to work remotely part of the time to fully resolve the serious problems burdening ŠRATC.”
It is emphasized that significant financial and legal problems related to the previous period of the institution’s operation have been resolved over the past year.
“Currently, the cases have been won, damages recovered, an agreement with the State Enterprise ‘Property Bank’ on long-term debt restructuring without interest has been reached, and after receiving the European Commission’s approval, all accrued interest has been written off, so ŠRATC can continue to operate successfully.”
Ž. Šilgalis also emphasizes that one of the most important future challenges for ŠRATC remains the modernization of mechanical-biological treatment (MBA) facilities and ensuring the necessary funding.
“However, I emphasize that waste management fully meeting the growing environmental requirements is only possible by fundamentally modernizing the MBA, the necessity of which I have been trying to prove to both the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania and the shareholders for four years, and a vision was prepared for this in 2023, and more than a year ago the investment project was completed, but so far it has not been possible to secure the necessary funding.”
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Upon leaving his position, Ž. Šilgalis thanks the ŠRATC team, shareholders, board members, and colleagues from other regional waste management centers for their joint work and implemented changes.
Ž. Šilgalis says he views this period as a challenging but meaningful stage of his professional career.
“I leave this position proud of the work done and having gained valuable professional experience, and I wish the institution and its new head Mantas, who has long worked at ŠRATC and is a good choice by the shareholders, success in continuing the work, implementing prepared projects, and further growing the institution important to the Šiauliai region. This stage of professional activity was not easy, full of various challenges, but interesting, productive, and meaningful,” says Ž. Šilgalis.
Acting head of ŠRATC M. Tamošiūnas states that in the near future the main focus will be on ensuring the smooth continuity of the institution’s operations, monitoring the execution of contracts with service providers, and implementing started projects.
“Consistency and stability are especially important in the field of communal services. Upon taking over this position, my main goal for the near future is to ensure uninterrupted operation of the institution,” notes M. Tamošiūnas.
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