More than €1 million of European Union funds allocated to support Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania were mistakenly redirected to citizens of other countries, the national state broadcaster LRT reported.
The funds intended for Ukrainians were distributed among citizens of 43 countries with a residence permit in Lithuania, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Baltic republic's Ministry of Social Protection and Labour has launched an investigation into the incident.
The European Social Funds Agency (ESFA), which oversees the distribution of aid, says that under the rules in force at the time, the support could have been legally provided to other socially vulnerable groups, not just Ukrainians. At the same time, the agency confirmed that in light of what happened, its director Lina Nevinskiene resigned from her post on May 13.
According to LRT, the EU has allocated about 17 million euros for a project to support Ukrainian refugees between 2022 and 2023. The assistance includes food, hygiene products, medicines, legal services, Lithuanian language courses and the provision of subsidized jobs.
Since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, more than 90,000 Ukrainian citizens have moved to Lithuania. About 45,000 people have received residence permits.