On Monday, representatives of EPSO-G presented the progress of the project to the Project Supervision Commission for the Physical Barrier on the Border with Belarus, chaired by the Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. In the near future, the works will be completed on the most important about 100 km sections of the first stage of the project – near Druskininkai, A. Barauskas, and Adutiškis border barriers. In these sections, the final kilometres of the fence segments, as well as the gates for border guards to access the state border signs are being installed, and the quality of the works is being evaluated by technical supervision experts.
Last week, the total length of the concertina barrier on the border with Belarus exceeded 320 km and more than 220 km of fence segments were already installed. As part of the project, more than 40 km of the fence previously installed on the border have been upgraded.
The installation of the whole physical barrier of almost 500 km long will be completed by September. The total length of Lithuania’s border with Belarus is 679 km. More than 100 km of the border stretches along banks of rivers and lakes, where the installation of the physical barrier is not foreseen.
This week, around 800 employees of contractors mobilised by EPSO-G have been working on construction sites of the physical barrier; these companies are using more than half a hundred pieces of equipment: pile-drivers, excavators, loaders, tractors, lifting platforms, and other equipment. There are still some watery, difficult-to-access areas where works are planned to be continued when conditions are suitable for that. Every day, the physical barrier on the border lengthens by about 3–4 km.
During installation of the physical barrier on the state border with Belarus, the first step is to build the concertina barrier, with the fence segments erected next to it on the Lithuanian side. The fence segments, manufactured in accordance with the requirements of the State Border Guard Service under the Ministry of the Interior (SBGS) are resistant to weather and soil exposures and are attached to the poles inserted in the ground. The concertina spiral is fixed at the top of the fence, and the total height of the fence with the spiral reaches 4 metres in many places.
The Project Supervision Commission is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes the Ministers of the Interior, Energy, National Defence, Environment, and Finance, the Commander of the State Border Guard Service, the Head of the State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate, and a representative of the EPSO-G group of companies implementing the project.