NATO summit was held in Lithuania, which generally brought positive news, and the Lithuanian company Ignitis has announced plans to invest 115 million euros in developing a network of EV charging stations.
Court upholds Lithuania’s lawsuit against Veolia
The court of first instance justly accepted Lithuania’s Energy Ministry’s lawsuit for 240-million-euro compensation from Veolia, a French energy group, for the damage it caused to the State of Lithuania and consumers, Lithuania’s Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday, the 13th of July. The court rejected appeals by Veolia, Vilniaus Energija and Litesko, which had sought to have the state’s claim against them dismissed in domestic courts. The court upheld the Vilnius Regional Court’s ruling of the 14th of April, stating that the ministry’s claim had no defects and that Lithuanian courts had international jurisdiction and there was no legal basis to refer the parties to arbitration courts. Lithuania seeks to prove that Veolia and Icor unlawfully took over control of heating businesses in a dozen Lithuanian municipalities in 1993-2003 and profited from heating consumers.
Police launch probe into purported leak of NATO summit info
Lithuania’s police have opened a probe into a purported leak on social media of information related to the organization of this week’s NATOs summit in Vilnius, the Police Department said on Thursday, the 13th of July. Information emerged on the Telegram social platform on Wednesday, the 12th of July, that a group of hackers calling themselves “From Russia with Love” had gained access to non-public data about the organizational details of the NATO summit, such as information about the event’s security arrangements, the names of officers in charge of event security, the travel routes of delegations, the security systems used and so on. The leak contains some 30 documents, which have not yet been authenticated by the services, with information about the hotels where NATO leaders and delegations stayed, their arrival times at airports, and the names of leaders’ security guards and the types of weapons and communications equipment used by them.
Ignitis to invest ca 115 million euros in the development of EV charging network
Listed Lithuanian renewable energy company Ignitis Group and its subsidiaries in Latvia and Estonia are about to invest up to 115 million euros over three to five years to develop the electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the Baltic countries. The investment aligns with Ignitis Group’s strategy to accelerate the development of the EV charging network and build the largest fast charging network in the Baltics by installing up to 3,000 EV charging points by the end of 2026, the company informed the stock exchange, Ignitis said on Wednesday, the 12th of July. At the end of last year, Ignitis Group decided to establish the development of the Ignitis ON charging network as one of the strategic areas of its business.
US President Biden delivers a speech in Vilnius
The events of the 13th of January, 1991, showed the world that nothing can dim Lithuania’s flame for liberty, says Joe Biden, President of the United States said in his speech to Vilniusans and Vilnius guests in the framework of Vilnius NATO summit on Wednesday, the 12th of July. “It’s good to be back in Vilnius, a nation and a region that knows better than anyone the transformational power of freedom. You showed the world the strength of a people united cannot be denied. And together, with your brothers and sisters in Estonia and Latvia, you helped to end the era of division through the power of connection,” the US president said in his speech in the Grand Courtyard of Vilnius University.
Foreign Minister calls NATO decisions on Ukraine “strategic achievement”
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis described NATO’s decisions in Vilnius on Ukraine’s membership prospects as a “strategic achievement”, but called on the Alliance to go further and make next year’s summit in Washington “more historic”. According to him, NATO’s promise on the potential membership of Ukraine and Georgia, made in Bucharest back in 2008, was a “strong statement, but the problem was not with the statement itself; it was with our lack of commitment afterwards.”
Lithuania hosted joint firing exercise with French, US artillery units
This week, the Pabradė training area, close to Vilnius, was for the first time hosting the Barbara’s Resolve international artillery firing exercise. Artillery units from Lithuania, France and the US were taking part in the exercise, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said on Tuesday, the 11th of July. One of the objectives of the exercise is to practice live firing of different weapon systems, according to the military. Exercise Barbara’s Resolve 23 was visited by General Francois Goguenhaim, commander of the French national contingent in Europe, Alix Everad, the French ambassador to Lithuania, Mindaugas Steponavičius, chief of the Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and Arturas Radvilas, commander of the Lithuanian Land Force.
Lithuania posts 8.2 percent annual HICP inflation for June
Lithuania’s annual inflation rate, as measured by the EU Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), stood at 8.2 percent, and the monthly inflation rate was 0.1 percent, the State Data Agency reported on Tuesday, the 11th of July. The annual rate measured by the national CPI was 9 percent, and the monthly increase stood at 0.1 percent. The EU-harmonised average annual inflation rate was 17.3 percent, higher than the CPI rate of 18.6 percent.
Biden reaffirms US commitment to Lithuania, Baltic defence
The United States is firmly committed to supporting its NATO allies, including Lithuania and the Baltic states, US President Joe Biden said in Vilnius on Tuesday, the 11th of July. “The United States is here today to reaffirm our commitment to NATO (…), we are committed to Lithuania, and the Baltics, and NATO,” Biden said during his meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on Tuesday, the 11th of July.
Court freezes Aviabaltika assets
A court has ordered a temporary freeze on 980,000 euros’ worth of Aviabaltika’s assets at the request of Aero Delta Sarl, an Algerian industrial machinery manufacturing company that is seeking to recover a debt from the Lithuanian aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services provider owned by Yuri Borisov. The Lithuanian Court of Appeal on Tuesday, the 11th of July, partially granted the Algerian company’s request for interim measures, freezing Aviabaltika’s assets worth 739,300 euros, 150,000 US dollars and 101,500 Swiss francs. The Court of Appeal said this was to prevent Aviabaltika from transferring the assets to third parties, like it had already been done by reorganizing the company, to ensure the execution of its judgement if it is favourable to Aero Delta Sarl.
President welcomes deal on Sweden’s NATO membership
President Gitanas Nausėda on Monday, the 10th of July, welcomed a deal on Sweden’s NATO membership, saying that it will strengthen both the Baltic Sea region and the Alliance as a whole. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve of the Vilnius summit that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to send Sweden’s NATO accession protocol to the Turkish parliament for approval. “The breakthrough on Sweden’s accession to #NATO has been reached in Vilnius!” Nausėda tweeted, adding: “The Alliance will hopefully soon welcome Sweden as a full-fledged member.”
Energy Ministry calls first Baltic Sea wind farm tender “success”
As Ignitis Renewables, a subsidiary of Ignitis Grupė, (Ignitis Group), Lithuania’s state-owned energy group, offered to pay a development fee of 20 million euros to win the tender for Lithuania’s first 700 MW wind farm in the Baltic Sea, the country’s Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys considers the auction to be “a great success.” “With the cost of borrowed capital going up, equipment prices rising and electricity prices almost back to pre-crisis levels, the situation for renewable energy development has become less attractive. Nevertheless, we have managed to convince developers to invest in Lithuania, which I believe it’s a great success,” Kreivys said in a statement issued by his ministry on Monday, the 10th of July.
Week in Lithuania: upholds lawsuit against French company; investigates purported leak of NATO summit
