Last week, the top news in Lithuania were a major strike in the fertiliser producer Achema, the Constitutional Court dismissing a Covid-19 pass case and government’s readiness to accept refugees from Ukraine if needed.
Lithuanian, French presidents discuss regional security during phone call
President Gitanas Nausėda had a phone conversation with French leader Emmanuel Macron late last Sunday night to discuss Russia’s ongoing military build-up near its borders with Ukraine and also in the territory of Belarus. The build-up of Russian troops in Belarus is raising particular concern, Nausėda said, adding that NATO’s unity and determination to act is a key factor for the deterrence of Russia. The phone call took place at the French leader’s initiative.
Another 86 settlements get broadband internet
Lithuania’s public establishment Plačiajuostis Internetas last year installed some 200 km of new optical fibre lines and connected 49 transmission pylons to start providing services to 86 settlements. Lithuania aims to ensure internet speeds of at least 100 megabyte per second not only for its major cities but also remote settlements, too. Some 74 million euros in EU funding is allocated for the expansion of the fast broadband internet network in Lithuania in 2021-2027. Some 17,000 new households and 8,500 businesses will get access to fast broadband internet.
Achema workers go on strike
The trade union of Lithuania’s nitrogen fertiliser manufacturer Achema went ahead on Monday, February 7, on a planned strike, as the company’s management failed to keep up the promise to raise production workers’ wages by 3.5 percent. Trade union officials say the plant in Jonava, in central Lithuania, will have to be shut temporarily down for safety.
Lithuania’s Novaturas returns to profit in 2021
Novaturas, a leading Baltic tour operator, on Tuesday, February 8, reported a net profit of 1.3 million euros for 2021, versus a loss of 5.7 million euros in 2020. The group’s revenue almost tripled to 110.1 million euros, the Lithuanian-based company said in a statement to the Nasdaq Vilnius Stock Exchange.
Constitutional Court drops Covid-19 pass case
Lithuania’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday, February 9, dropped a case on the legitimacy of Covid-19 certificates in the country. The move follows the government’s decision to cancel its decision on the introduction of Covid-19 pass-related restrictions. The court says it’s pointless to consider no-longer-existent regulation. Ministers lifted the Covid-19 certificate requirement last Saturday in response to the changed epidemiological situation due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant. A group of opposition lawmakers turned to the Constitutional Court over Covid-19 passes last fall.
Read also: BNN ANALYSES: High prices-weary Lithuanians flock to Poland for cheaper goods
INVL acquires Latvian cosmetics producer B2Y
INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, one of the largest private equity investment funds in the Baltic region, announced on Wednesday, February 9, it has completed the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in B2Y, a growing personal care products and cosmetics producer, headquartered in Latvia, for undisclosed value. Deimantė Korsakaitė, the fund’s executive partner, expects the Latvian company to continue its fast expansion. B2Y creates and produces products under the Bio2You brand. Its office and production facility is situated in Riga. The company’s sales rose 36 percent to 1.5 million euros last year. It has a workforce of more than 20 people.
Airports see five-fold rise in passenger numbers in January
Lithuania’s three international airports saw their total passenger numbers increase almost five-fold to 250,000 in January as flight numbers more than doubled to 3,000, compared to 53,000 and 1,300 a year ago, respectively. Passenger traffic last month reached 57 percent of January 2019 levels, which aviation experts say shows that despite the challenges of the pandemic, recovery is underway, helped by the easing of travel restrictions in many European countries.
Lithuania prepares to take in refugees from Ukraine if needed
Amid mounting tensions over Russia’s military buildup, Lithuania’s authorities are getting ready to take in refugees from Ukraine if the situation in the region escalates, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said on Wednesday, February 9.
EU okays Lithuania’s 435-million-euro aid scheme
The European Commission has approved Lithuania’s 435-million-euro scheme to assist businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The EU’s executive board has concluded that the measure is in line with the Temporary Framework for state aid measures, the Commission’s representation in Lithuania said on Wednesday, February 9. The support will take the form of loans. Lithuania has informed the Commission that it is increasing the budget of the measure to 135 million euros, from the initial 36 million euros.
PM regrets Greek court’s decision not to extradite Radkevich
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said on Thursday, February 10, that she regretted a Greek court’s ruling against the extradition of Oleksandr Radkevich, a Ukrainian citizen convicted by a Vilnius court in the January 1991 Soviet crackdown case, to Lithuania, but gave no further comment. Radkevich, 53, was detained in Greece last September, but it took some time for the authorities of the two countries to ascertain his identity. He was detained in Greece on a European arrest warrant issued by a Lithuanian court in August. Several years ago, Vilnius Regional Court sentenced him to four years in prison for driving a tank involved in the events at the Lithuanian capital’s Press House.
Lithuania reports 11,114 new Covid-19 cases, 13 deaths
Lithuania recorded 11,114 new coronavirus infections and 13 deaths from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Friday, February 11. Three of the fatalities were fully vaccinated. Out of the new cases, 9,500 were primary, 1,603 were secondary and 11 were tertiary. As of last Friday, the Covid-19 statistics include re-infections if there are at least 90 days between two positive tests. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals now stands at 1,640, including 94 ICU cases. Overall, around 797,500 people in Lithuania have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic and the death toll has exceeded 8,000.
MP meets with Chinese’ acting chargé d’affaires as tensions rise
Giedrius Surplys, a deputy chairman of Lithuania’s parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, met earlier this week with Qu Baihua, China’s acting chargé d’affaires in Lithuania, to discuss rising tensions between the two countries. The representative of the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union said he was assured the conflict would end if the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius was renamed. Lithuania’s exports to China plunged 91 percent in December, from the same period last year, based on the figures from the European Commission.
Week in Lithuania: Constitutional Court drops Covid-19 certificate case, Achema workers go on strike
