A 30.6-hectare plot – the only one in the Prienai district – is listed in the National Land Service’s reserved state investment land plots list. The Ministry of Economy and Innovation confirmed to BNS earlier on Thursday that it plans to build a DEMZ factory in the Prienai district.
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Earlier, it was planned to establish a drone training base for the Šiauliai Union in this area.
Algis Marcinkevičius, chairman of the Balbieriškis community “Balbieriškis moves” and a member of the municipal council, told BNS that he knew nothing about the planned factory until Thursday and heard about it from local journalists.
“I had no information that anything was going to happen,” A. Marcinkevičius told BNS on Thursday. “The district council also does not know about this matter, (…) there were no official talks or any meetings.”
The plot near Balbieriškis was decided by the Government in November 2024 to be transferred to the Šauliai Union to develop drone capabilities and set up a shooting range there, but according to the union’s deputy leader Laimonas Vaškys, the territory was never handed over to the Šauliai. He said he did not know the reasons.
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“There were many plans, but since the plot was not transferred, those plans collapsed,” L. Vaškys told BNS on Thursday. “There was a meeting sometime ago with the community (Balbieriškis – BNS) about the drone school.”
The state plot was previously used by the Alytus Vocational Training Center.
As BNS wrote, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation announced on Thursday DEMZ’s plans to build a modern ammunition assembly workshop in the Prienai district and to use the already established infrastructure in the Alytus industrial park to produce metal ammunition parts.
The ministry will sign a large investment project agreement with the company on Friday. The Ministry of National Defence will also sign a memorandum of intent with the investor. The amount of DEMZ’s investment has not yet been disclosed.
Construction of the factory is planned to start this autumn, with production beginning at the end of next year.
