From now on people who come to Vilnius’ municipal offices will receive information in one of the following languages: Lithuanian, English, Russian or Polish. The municipality of Vilnius is the first in Lithuania to begin providing services to clients in four languages. In so doing the municipal government hopes that the information provided to private individuals and businesses will be more accessible, clear and useful.
[quote text=”The municipality has to try to make Vilnius more convenient and open and the municipal government’s employees have to be helpful, open to innovations and goal-oriented.” name_surname=”Remigijus Šimašius” description=”Vilnius city mayor” left=””]
A week ago in the lobby of the first floor of the municipal building, Vilnius resident Anatolij was very frustrated trying to find out in Russian which type of services to choose from the menu at the control terminal in the lobby. A woman passing by commented in Lithuanian: “It’s all there. Isn’t it clear?!” From now on there will be no more misunderstandings: you will be offered a choice of languages on the first screen marked with the respective flags.
The names of the services provided in the menu have also been translated into English, Russian and Polish. On the desk of every worker there are flags showing which languages they speak.
“The municipality has to try to make Vilnius more convenient and open and the municipal government’s employees have to be helpful, open to innovations and goal-oriented,” Remigijus Šimašius, Vilnius city mayor said.
The mayor decided to check out this latest innovation for himself. After looking at the terminal controlling queues, he decided to work at one of the counters. Brothers Viktoras and Igoris who had come to declare their residential address were quite surprised to be served by the mayor himself.
According to personnel in the Client Service Division, most often people speaking foreign languages come to the municipal building to inquire about how to declare their residential address in Vilnius, and they are also interested in trade and business related services. Most of the civil servants working with clients can speak 2 to 3 languages. From now on they will first greet everyone in Lithuanian, and if they are asked a question in another language, they will answer in that language, namely, English, Polish or Russian. For added convenience, the municipal offices are open to the public even during lunch-time.
Over 120,000 people visit the municipality every year. This is equivalent to a daily average of 500 people seeking assistance or information. The municipal government provides more than 250 services, of which over 100 are available online.
