VILNIUS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian Defense Ministry will develop 3 new military territories as part of broader military infrastructure modernization efforts, announced the country's Defense Ministry on Thursday.
Three military facilities with necessary infrastructure for three battalion-sized units of Lithuanian Armed Forces are to be built in Western, Northern and Eastern part of the country "over the next several years", according to an announcement from the ministry.
The ministry says the implementation of the project marks "a completely new stage" of the development of the Lithuanian Army's infrastructure.
"At the moment, all of our armed forces units are based in former military territories and buildings, the majority of which have been left behind by the Soviet Army," the vice minister of defense Giedrimas Jeglinskas was quoted as saying in the announcement.
The size of the project will amount to around 90 million euros. The construction of 3 military territories will the first military project based on public and private partnership (PPP).
The ministry hopes that PPP method would ensure that the project will meet its quality, time and costs targets.
"We can only achieve it if we stimulate competition among both, contractors and investors," said Jeglinskas.
In 2018, Lithuania's defense expenditures are 873 million euros, or 2.01 percent of the country's GDP.
Lithuania, a small Baltic State with a population of less than 3 million and the Eastern-flank member country of NATO, has increased its defense spending and stepped up military in recent years.
