Assessments, overviews

• The most significant increases were in the salaries of heads of public administrations, state politicians and officials, and judges.
• Appropriation managers have so far made limited use of the possibility to use the savings for salaries.
• The fastest average salary growth was in the institutions with the lowest remuneration before the reform.

The transformation of the public governance improvements, launched in 2024, aims not only to modernise human resources management, but also to ensure a competitive remuneration system. One of the key elements of this transformation is the modernisation of the public sector pay system, with a new mechanism for indexation of the basic salary and coefficient, more discretion for managers to design a pay system that meets the needs of the institutions and the use of saved allocations for salaries.

The National Audit Office's overview of public sector employees' salaries, which analyses one year of developments, shows that the transformation of the public governance improvements is delivering its first results.

"The overview of public sector salaries is the first step in uncovering the impact of the ongoing public governance transformation on the remuneration system. Already in the first year, we are seeing the results of the transformation, with a narrowing of the salary gap between institutions, and an increase in salaries for managers and judges, which is crucial for strengthening the leadership of the institutions and for attracting managers with higher competences. However, the flexibility given to institutions to allocate savings to salaries has not yet been actively used, with the same number of appropriation managers increasing their salary fund as before the transformation," stressed Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.

The overview shows that average gross salaries in public administrations rose by around 10% to EUR 2 622 (up from EUR 2 377), while staff numbers grew, but slightly (+1%). For example, in the Offices of the President, the Government and the Parliament, the number of staff (civil servants and employees under employment contracts) remained stable after an average increase of 11% to EUR 3,068 (from EUR 2,747), while in the municipal administrations, the average salary rose by 11% to EUR 2,235 before tax (from EUR 2,020) and the number of staff increased by 4%.

The most significant change is the increase in the average salary of managers, public politicians and officials, and judges. In some institutions - the Offices of the President, the Government, the Seimas and some ministries (Education, Science and Sport, Economy and Innovation, Health, Foreign Affairs) - the salaries of managers, public politicians and officials increased by around 30%. The increase ranged from EUR 700 to EUR 1 100 before tax in different institutions. The average salary of judges increased by around 20% (from EUR 4 820 to EUR 5 842 before tax), ranging from EUR 150 to EUR 1 600 in different courts.

The institutions (ministries, subordinate institutions and courts), which had lower salaries before the restructuring, recorded faster average salary growth. Among ministries, the highest increases were observed in the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (17%), the Ministry of Culture (15%), and among courts, the Alytus and Plungė District Courts (30%). Other institutions with among the highest salaries showed only modest salary increases in 2024. These developments show that the public sector remuneration system is becoming more balanced between institutions.

It is expected that this overview will contribute to data-driven public sector planning and will serve as a basis for further monitoring of the salary policies and improving public governance.
 
The overview data and results, presented in an interactive tool, make it possible to analyse the information and assess trends in salaries and staff turnover.

• Lithuania has been earmarked EUR 3.8 billion of EU support to implement the measures of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Next Generation Lithuania". To qualify for the funding, 218 milestones and targets must be achieved by 31 August 2026.
• One third of the way through the plan, 92 milestones and targets have been achieved and 10 milestones and targets have been delayed. 5* of the non-achieved milestones delayed the submission of a payment request for the non-reimbursable part of the EUR 477.5 million assistance.
• Failure to achieve the milestones and targets to the planned extent puts Lithuania at risk of not receiving the full funding of the Plan and of not meeting the national progress targets related to the milestones.

An assessment by the National Audit Office shows delays in the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, with milestones and targets not being achieved on time and payment requests not being submitted.

The EUR 3.8 billion financial support will be available until 31 August 2026. Lithuania is committed to achieving 218 milestones and targets by 31 December 2010. The National Audit Office, after assessing the progress made in the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the risks to the achievement of the milestones for the latest period of the Plan, concludes that some of the targets will not be achieved to the extent foreseen. The targets related to the acquisition of clean vehicles, the installation of public and private charging points, the promotion of the development of a start-up ecosystem, and the encouragement of science and business to participate in international science and innovation programmes. If the targets are not fully met, negotiations are underway with the European Commission to adjust the targets to lower ones or to find alternative ways of their achievement.

"After assessing the riskiness of forty-five milestones and targets, we found that twelve of them will not be achieved to the planned extent, and nineteen may not be achieved on time or may not be achieved in full, thus putting Lithuania at a risk of not receiving the full funding allocated to the Plan and not meeting the national progress targets related to the milestones in the areas of education, science, innovation, and the green transformation," said Auditor General Mindaugas Macijauskas.

With a third of the Plan's implementation time remaining, 93% of the investments have been contracted, but the cost of implementation is below 30% of the funding allocated to Lithuania. This means that at least EUR 2.8 billion, or 74% of the Plan's funding for Lithuania, will need to be invested over the remaining life of the Plan.

10 of the 98 milestones and targets are delayed until the end of November 2024. Failure to meet 5* milestones resulted in a 9-month delay in the submission of a payment request for the third part of EUR 477.5 million of non-repayable assistance.

Two years ago, the National Audit Office identified risks related to 4 unmet milestones in the audit "Achievement of milestones and targets of the Lithuania‘s Recovery and Resilience Plan". Today, the risk of missing out on multi-million-euro support is much higher.

• The benefits of UNESCO World Heritage status are undoubted, though not measured.
• Management and specific plans relevant to the protection of UNESCO properties have not yet been approved.
• Monitoring does not reveal the state of UNESCO properties.

The protection of UNESCO's Tangible World Heritage properties does not comply with all international requirements, management and specific plans are not developed and implemented, impacts on heritage are not assessed, and there is insufficient communication about the uniqueness and value of the properties. Failure to comply with the requirements for the protection of UNESCO's heritage increases the risk of failing to protect outstanding properties. These are the results of the National Audit Office's assessment "Management and Protection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites".
  
Lithuania acceded to the Convention in 1992 and undertook to ensure the identification, protection, preservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage in its territory. Between 1994 and 2023, the UNESCO Tangible World Heritage List includes 5 sites in Lithuania: the Historical Centre of Vilnius, the Curonian Spit, the Kernavė Archaeological Site, the Struve Geodesic Arc and Modernist Kaunas: Optimist Architecture, 1919-1939. The protection of the sites is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Environment.
  
"Without accurate data on UNESCO World Heritage properties, and without monitoring their true state, it is difficult to ensure their proper management and maintenance. This may have a negative impact on the status of the UNESCO properties, their preservation, aesthetic image and attractiveness to visitors", - assures the Auditor General Mindaugas Macijauskas.
  
The benefits of UNESCO World Heritage status for the recognition, image, visibility and increased tourist attraction of the country are undoubted, but the assessment shows that there is no calculation of its economic benefits or added value for the country or for the properties included. There is no data on visitors or tourists to the UNESCO sites or the attractions they contain. The extent to which tourists' decision to visit the country has been influenced by UNESCO sites is not known or analysed. On the other hand, too many tourists may also have a negative impact on the preservation of the Curonian Spit. A management plan for the site, including the management of tourist flows, must be drawn up in order to avoid irreversible changes that could threaten the outstanding universal value.
  
UNESCO properties must be protected according to higher international standards, but not all of them are observed. No World Heritage Impact Assessment is carried out for restoration or new construction works that could affect the property's outstanding universal value. There is also a lack of communication about the uniqueness and value of these properties.
  
Countries are committed to developing management plans for World Heritage sites, but only one of Lithuania's five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Kernavė archaeological site, has a management plan in place so far. In the absence of management and specific plans for UNESCO properties, it is difficult for the institutions to deal with issues related to coordination, cooperation and monitoring of protection and actualisation activities.
  
The results of the assessment show that the monitoring does not reveal the state of the outstanding universal value of World Heritage properties. The properties have not been monitored at least once every 5 years. 88% of the properties are assessed as being in a stable physical condition for the period 2021-2024, so it is not known which properties are in a poor or distressed condition and should be addressed.
  
According to the auditors, meeting UNESCO's higher standards for the protection of the Tangible World Heritage and assessing the impact on heritage would help to find the best solutions to meet development needs and ensure that the property's outstanding universal value is preserved for future generations.
  
The aim of the assessment carried out by the National Audit Office is to provide structured information on the management, monitoring and benefits to the country of Lithuania's UNESCO Tangible World Heritage Sites. As this is an assessment and not an audit, no recommendations are made.