The institution assessed the risk of corruption in the financing processes of sports infrastructure projects and physical activity programs at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM), the National Sports Agency (NSA), and the municipalities of Vilnius, Panevėžys cities, Kaunas, Akmenė, Kupiškis, and Plungė districts.
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Over the years 2023–2025, more than 76.6 million euros were allocated from the state budget for sports funding. Of these, about 62.6 million euros were distributed by the ministry, and about 14 million euros by the NSA.
As indicated by the ministry, sports infrastructure and physical activity projects have so far been financed through the Sports Support Fund, the State Investment Program (VIP), and the School Sports Grounds Renewal (MAP) program.
“Some of these measures – VIP new project selection and MAP as a separate funding measure – are no longer being implemented,” the comment to BNS states.
Risk of selective fund allocation
One of the remarks in the analysis published by the STT this week points out that sports infrastructure projects of similar purpose are financed using different models, which creates opportunities for selective fund allocation by choosing a more favorable method.
According to the service, the risk of favoritism and abuse increases due to the lack of ensured equal independence and impartiality in the selection process. It was noted that there is also a risk of conflict of interest in decisions made by municipalities and state institutions.
Meanwhile, ŠMSM states that it does not believe the level of conflict of interest or favoritism risks is the same for all measures. According to the ministry, some funding methods already have mechanisms in place that reduce these risks.
As stated in the report, in 2023, in one of the analyzed municipalities, funding of 20 thousand euros, which accounted for almost a third of the entire annual sports support budget, was allocated to a football club whose president was the municipality mayor.
In the same year, the municipality allocated funding to 12 sports organizations, but only one other received a similar amount, while the sums for the remaining ten organizations were several times smaller than for the club led by the mayor.
Specifically, the Akmenė district football club “Akmenė” received funding of 20 thousand euros in 2023; its president and one of the founders is the district mayor, social democrat Vitalijus Mitrofanovas.
According to STT, due to limited funds and significant discretion of decision-makers, conditions are created for selective funding and violations of public interest in its allocation.
Restricted competition
The analysis also showed that funding contracts often do not specify concrete obligations, which creates conditions for disproportionate redirection of public investments for commercial purposes.
It was found that sports and wellness complexes with pools in Plungė and Naujoji Akmenė, financed by the state investment program funds, operate under a common pricing scheme, also providing commercial SPA or sauna services, but there are no clearly defined usage quotas, accessibility schedules, or concessions for target groups.
Additionally, the analysis discusses risks of competition restriction.
Due to the requirement for a national umbrella non-governmental organization to unite at least 20 organizations, the Lithuanian Paralympic Committee’s application for a program dedicated to disabled sports was rejected, so such a program was not implemented at all.
Provided recommendations
Based on the analysis, STT recommended standardizing the requirements applied to sports funding models.
However, as ŠMSM indicated, different sports funding models cannot be mechanically standardized and this is not the goal.
“Different measures perform different functions in implementing sports policy, they are based on different legal regulations, so their improvement is carried out taking into account each one’s specifics,” the response states.
STT also suggests clearly defining and applying public interest assurance standards to project implementers when selecting projects, concluding funding contracts, and controlling usage, strengthening funding and usage control mechanisms, and increasing decision transparency.
ŠMSM, NSA, and the analyzed municipalities will have to publicly disclose within three months how they have taken into account or plan to take into account the comments and proposals submitted by STT.
According to the ministry, a new sports infrastructure funding measure is currently being prepared, taking into account the recommendations.
Under this procedure, projects will be administered by the Central Project Management Agency, and it is expected that the measure will allow state funds to contribute both to high-performance sports and projects meeting physical activity needs.
