Last week in Lithuania PM’s adviser was appointed lead Lithuania’s representative office in Taiwan. Ministry calls for EU-wide decision on visa ban for Russian tourists. Ignitis calls Nord Pool’s reaction to record-high prices «formal».
Lithuania on lookout for space industry coordinator
The European Space Agency (ESA) and Lithuania’s Economy and Innovation Ministry announced they are looking for a coordinator for the Lithuanian space industry, Lithuanian media reported on Friday, August 19. The coordinator would be the contact point between the ESA and Lithuanian companies and institutions and would work closely with the Economy and Innovation Ministry and LT SpaceHub at the Innovation Agency. The coordinator would provide practical assistance and share information on opportunities to participate in various project activities, and training or other activities aimed at promoting the growth of the Lithuanian space industry. The ministry says more than 30 companies, each with sales revenue of 500,000 euros on average, are involved in space supply chains in Lithuania, and the number of space companies in the country is expected to grow more than two and a half times within five years.
Lithuania reports 1,450 new COVID-19 cases, one death
Lithuania recorded 1,450 new coronavirus infections and one death from COVID-19 over Thursday, August 18, the country reported on Friday, August 19. Of the new cases, 1,105 were primary, 324 were secondary and 21 were tertiary. The number of hospital patients now stands at 169, including nine ICU cases. The 14-day primary infection rate has risen to 603.5 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests up to 53.6 percent. However, the daily number of new coronavirus cases remains well below the peak of over 14,000 reached in early February. More than 1.2 million people in Lithuania have tested positive with COVID-19 at least once.
Ignitis calls Nord Pool’s reaction to record-high prices «formal»
Ignitis Grupe (Ignitis Group), Lithuania’s state-owned energy group, criticised on Friday, August 19, Nord Pool’s response to record-high electricity prices and says the power exchange’s recommendations are «formal and technically unfeasible». Ignitis says Nord Pool provides information on how to comply with the algorithm they use but fails to fully assess its suitability for the Baltic countries. Lithuanian energy market participants have recently complained about the exchange’s pricing algorithm as it sometimes rejects even lower price bids, which led to a record-high price of 4,000 euros per MWh on Wednesday night in Nord Pools’ Baltic bidding area.
Ignitis Grupė has announced this week it is borrowing 224 million euros from two banks. On Tuesday, the group’s board approved plans to borrow 150 million euros from Lithuania’s SEB Bank and Estonia’s SEB Pank and also secure an overdraft agreement of 74 million euros OP Corporate Bank’s Lithuanian branch, the group announced via the Nasdaq Vilnius Stock Exchange.
Border guards deter 82 migrants on border with Belarus
Lithuanian border guards on Thursday, August 18, turned away 82 migrants attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service said on Friday, August 19. Lithuanian border guards have sent almost 12,500 people back to Belarus since August 3, 2021, when they were given the right to deny entry to irregular migrants. The number includes repeated attempts by the same people to cross the border. Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus illegally last year.
Lithuania shuts down Medininkai foreigners’ centre
The last 12 illegal migrants who were temporarily accommodated at the Medininkai foreigners’ registration centre in Lithuania were moved to the registration centres in Pabradė and Kybartai, the country’s State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Thursday, August 18. In Medininkai, the dismantling and removal of the existing modular houses where migrants were living, as well as other infrastructure, has started and the surroundings will be cleared up later. The Medininkai center has operated since September 16, 2021. Lithuania set up several migrant camps to accommodate foreigners who illegally crossed into Lithuania from Belarus. In total, over 4,200 of them entered the country last year. As of August 19, 628 foreigners had still lived at the registration centres administered by the SBGS, and another 280 migrants had lived at the centres Rukla and Naujininkai, Vilnius, subordinate to the Ministry of Social Security and Labour.
Foreign Ministry summons China’s diplomat over Beijing’s sanctions
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Qu Baihua, China’s chargé d’affaires, to protest against Beijing’s decision to impose sanctions on Deputy Transport Minister Agnė Vaičiukevičiūtė and suspend transport cooperation with Lithuania after her recent visit to Taiwan, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday, August 18. Beijing said after the visit that it was imposing sanctions on the vice-minister and suspending all forms of exchange with the Transport Ministry and exchange and cooperation with Lithuania in the field of international road transport. Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said earlier on Thursday that China had not yet officially notified his ministry of its decision to end cooperation. Lithuania last year allowed Taipei to open its representative office in Vilnius with the word «Taiwanese», rather than «Taipei’s», in its name.
PM’s adviser to lead Lithuania’s representative office in Taiwan
Paulius Lukauskas, currently working as an adviser to Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has been appointed to lead the country’s trade representative in Taiwan, scheduled to be opened in September, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, which carried out the selection process, confirmed it on Wednesday, August 17. In a statement released later, the ministry said it expects the new representative office in Taipei to help boost Lithuania’s economic representation in the Southeast Asian region and step up the implementation of joint projects with Taiwan. A total of eight candidates vied to lead Lithuania’s new representative office in Taipei. As relations between Lithuania and Taiwan began to deepen, a Taiwanese representative office was opened in Vilnius last fall, which angered China.
Ministry calls for EU-wide decision on visa ban for Russian tourists
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Wednesday, August 17, called on the European Union to take a unanimous decision on a ban on visas for Russian tourists. The minister’s comment came after Estonia decided to deny entry, as of Thursday, August 18, to Russian nationals who hold visas issued by Estonia.
However, Landsbergis said he doubted the effectiveness of such measures, saying that a Russian citizen today can get a visa at the German consulate in any Russian city where there is a consulate, and travel via Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Poland to wherever they want to go for a holiday. This is why an EU-level decision is needed, according to the Lithuanian foreign minister.
Lithuania’s minimum wage may rise 15-19 percent next year
Lithuania’s minimum monthly wage may increase by 15-19 percent next year, and pensions and government-paid employees’ salaries should be raised by 10 percent, Mykolas Majauskas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, said on Tuesday, August 16. According to Majauskas, pensions should increase by at least 10 percent next year, as should the basic amount used for calculating salaries in the public sector. This year, Lithuania’s minimum monthly wage stands at 730 euros before tax or 550 euros after tax. The Bank of Lithuania in July suggested raising the minimum wage by 18.9 percent.
Week in Lithuania: 1,450 new COVID-19 cases, one death reported on Friday, Medininkai foreigners’ centre shut down
