REZONING ISSUE:
A shareholder said the tech industrial park project, which was originally expected to be finished in 2028, would be delayed to 2032 at the latest

Staff writer, with CNA, in VILNIUS

The Lithuanian government on Monday promised to solve problems related to a halt in construction at a high-tech industrial park to ensure that a joint semiconductor project with Taiwan continues.

The project is to be built in the Teltonika High-Tech Hill park, but main Teltonika shareholder Arvydas Paukstys said in a LinkedIn post on Friday last week that construction was being halted due to a shortage of electricity and unresolved issues on rezoning the land for industrial use.

In a meeting between the government and Paukstys on Monday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte instructed government agencies to work with Teltonika and provide assistance to enable the high-tech park project to proceed.

Photo: Ann Wang, reuters

After the meeting, Paukstys said that the project, originally expected to be completed in 2028, would be delayed by two to three years, and was now slated for completion by 2032 at the latest if no other problems emerged.

Echoing Paukstys, Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite said following the meeting that the government needed to work with 18 agencies, including the military, to resolve the land rezoning issue.

The government had settled technical issues related to the project, and was in the process of planning and preparing the necessary paperwork for the project to proceed, Armonaite said.

In his earlier LinkedIn post, Paukstys said that Teltonika could not even start designing the buildings for the 55 hectare industrial park — expected to house 10 major facilities — because of a lack of clarity on the park’s technical conditions.

Hsinchu-based Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工業技術研究院) signed a 14 million euro (US$14.77 million) agreement with Teltonika in January last year to build semiconductor capacity in the Lithuania park.

Teltonika, which the Lithuanian government has designated as a member of the “national chip team,” is a major supplier of Internet of Things equipment in the country.

Under the ITRI’s deal with the company, Taiwan agreed to provide technology to help the Baltic state build production capacity of eight-inch wafers.

Lithuanian National Radio and Television last week cited Paukstys as accusing the Lithuanian government of having blocked 3.5 billion euros in business investments.

In his LinkedIn post, the Lithuanian businessman said that halting the investment would stop the creation of 6,000 new jobs and cost the country several billions of euros in GDP.

After news of the halt in construction of the industrial park surfaced, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday said that cooperation in semiconductor development with Lithuania would not be affected.