Lithuania has launched a new military training facility in Šiauliai, finalizing the government’s three-site armed forces campus expansion across the country.
The Šiauliai center encompasses 7.8 hectares (19.2 acres) of land in the city and is the largest barracks built under the initiative.
Hubs developed inside the campus include special-purpose buildings, mess halls, administrative rooms, medical and sports facilities, warehouses, gas stations, and parking spaces for the disabled and electric mobility platforms.
Work for the military campus project and its accompanying maintenance and services was facilitated through Vilnius’ Public-Private Partnership framework.
The government awarded the Šiauliai’s development contract to local companies Partnerystės Projektai Keturi and Samogitia Miestelis in 2021.
The funding of the project’s overall construction amounted to 231 million euros ($250 million), according to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence.
The first campus produced by this effort was inaugurated in February in the town of Pajūris in Šilalė. It was followed by the Rokantiškės campus in the capital city the same month.
“Brand new, excellently developed military campuses…present an upgrade to service conditions and combat equipment maintenance in Lithuania, and raises the quality level of military infrastructure available for individual training of servicemembers,” the Lithuanian defense agency wrote.
“Side by side with excellent conditions for conscript and battalion personnel training, new jobs for civilians will be created along with opportunities for local businesses.”