Last week, Seimas inched towards decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis, demarche to France over Macron’s comments on Russia’s signed.
Lithuania signs $495-million contract with US for HIMARS systems
On the 15th of December, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas met with the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington and signed the contract for acquiring High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers. For a preliminary price of 495 million US dollars, Lithuania is buying eight HIMARS launchers from the US, along with several types of missiles, including long-range missiles that can reach targets 300 kilometers away.
MPs reject initiative on the use of diacritical marks to spell names
Lithuanian lawmakers voted down a proposal to allow Lithuanian citizens to use diacritical marks to spell their names using Latin-based characters. In all, 48 MPs voted for the amendment proposed by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, 26 were against and 33 abstained. The law that was adopted early this year and came into force in May allows the use of the letters «w», «q» and «x», which do not exist in the Lithuanian alphabet, in Lithuanian citizens’ personal documents.
However, it does not permit other diacritical marks, like those used in the Polish language.
Some local Poles say they are not satisfied with the current regulation as it still does not allow them to spell their names in their original form using diacritical marks.
Fertilizer plant Achema to halt production again
A month and a half after resuming production, Lithuania’s nitrogen fertilizer manufacturer Achema is set to temporarily suspend it again on Monday amid rising natural gas prices, Jolita Macelytė, the company’s head of communications, said on 15th of December. Achema CEO Ramūnas Miliauskas has said that the company expects to resume ammonia production next February. The fertilizer plant in Jonava, in central Lithuania, halted operations in September but resumed them in early November. According to data from the state social insurance fund Sodra, the company currently employs 1,200 people. Achema scaled down production in late September 2021 due to a spike in natural gas prices, leaving only one ammonia unit in operation.
EIB to loan EUR 65 million to Klaipėda Port
The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it is lending 65 million euros for the upgrading and deepening of quays and other projects in the Lithuanian seaport of Klaipėda. The EIB says on its website that the loan agreement was signed on the 9th of December.
The EIB says in the description of the project that the money will be used for the reconstruction, extension, and deepening of nearly 3,7 kilometers of quay walls to facilitate access for larger vessels and upgrade adjacent railway facilities, and for other works foreseen in the port’s master plan.
The total cost of the work is estimated at 137 million euros.
Seimas inches towards decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas made only half a step toward decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of cannabis. The Seimas decided to establish administrative liability for the offense but failed to remove it from the Criminal Code. At the reading stage, 63 MPs voted in favor of the supplement to the Code of Administrative Offences, 60 were against and two abstained. However, in a separate vote on draft amendments to the Criminal Code to decriminalize the possession of cannabis and its products for personal use, 63 MPs voted in favor, 61 were against and three abstained.
The amended proposal calls for supplementing the Code of Administrative Offences with a provision that the unlawful production, processing, acquisition, possession, transport, or dispatch of small quantities of cannabis (its parts), cannabis oil, resin, extracts, or tinctures without the intention to distribute them is punishable by a warning or by a fine of between 50 and 300 euros.
The Seimas decided to send the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code back to the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs for improvement. An earlier attempt to decriminalize the acquisition and possession of small amounts of narcotic drugs failed through in the parliament in November 2011.
Lithuania joins demarche to France over Macron’s comments on Russia
Lithuania joined a regional demarche to France in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s comments on security guarantees for Russia, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis confirmed on the 13th of December. The demarche was initiated by the Czech Republic, which holds the EU Council presidency, and handed to France’s Foreign Ministry by Czech, Latvian, Estonian and Polish diplomats. It was also signed by Lithuania and Slovakia. The seven countries warned against repeating the mistakes of the first half of the 20th century, referring to the First and Second World Wars.
Ukrainians will continue to use public transport in Vilnius for free in 2023
Ukrainians will be able to use public transport in Vilnius for free next year after the local council extended the scheme until 2024, Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius told Vilnius City councilors. In 2023, foreigners who left Ukraine because of Russia’s started war will get 100 percent discounts on the use of local regular buses and trolleybuses, based on the Vilnius authorities’ decision.
Lithuania’s temporary residence permits are to be issued in 34 countries
Lithuania’s temporary residence permits will be issued in 34 countries around the world starting next year, Evelina Gudzinskaitė, director of the Migration Department, said. According to the director, the service will be provided in 34 countries by VFS Global, which has been selected through a public procurement process. The company is providing similar services to many governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. Currently, foreign nationals have to come to Lithuania and fill in the paperwork in order to obtain a residence permit in the country.
Court takes on Grigeo Klaipėda pollution case
The regional court in Lithuania’s northern city of Šiauliai started hearing Grigeo Klaipėda’s Curonian Lagoon pollution case. Grigeo Klaipėda, a Klaipėda-based cardboard producer that is part of the Grigeo Group, and its 14 current and former employees have been charged with abuse, falsification of documents, and violation of environmental protection rules, the court said in a press release. Those charged include Gintautas Pangonis, the Grigeo Group’s main shareholder, and Grigeo Klaipėda’s CEO Tomas Eikinas, CFO Vidmantas Maciukas, and CPO Žygimantas Žilevicius. Charges against Grigeo Klaipėda as a legal entity also include fraudulent financial accounting.
According to the prosecutor, the cardboard factory may have discharged at least 4,2 million cubic meters of untreated sewage into the Curonian Lagoon.
The Environmental Protection Department has brought a civil action against the company, seeking more than 48 million euros in environmental damages.
Two cannabis farms busted in Lithuania
Lithuania’s law enforcement officers uncovered two cannabis farms in the country’s Jonava and Ukmergė Districts in early December, in what is believed to be one of the largest illegal cannabis businesses in Lithuania, officers said on the 12th of December. Two persons, born in 1993 and 2000, were detained. The operation also involved officers from Lithuania’s anti-terrorist operations unit Aras and they found and took away an explosive device. Virginijus Kulikauskas, director of the Prison Department, said over 200 cannabis plants were seized in total. Jevgenij Chleborodov, head of the Prison Department’s Criminal Intelligence Board, said it was the largest quantity of drugs found by the prison system. Part of the cannabis is believed to be meant for inmates.