Last week, Lithuania submitted an EC request for a 565-million-euro EC payout, and Vilnius started removing Soviet sculptures from the cemetery.
Lithuania’s Maxima-controlled Stokrotka chain ends takeover of 13 stores
Stokrotka, a Polish retail grocery chain owned by Lithuania’s Maxima Grupė (Maxima Group), the largest retail group in the Baltic states, announced it has finalized the acquisition of a local chain of grocery stores operating in the Masovian Voivodship for an undisclosed value, Lukas Radžiūnas, head of communications and corporate affairs at Vilniaus Prekyba, the owner of Maxima Grupė, confirmed. The chain operated over 800 owned and franchised stores at the end of 2021, generating a turnover exceeding 1 billion euros.
Customs nab shipment of counterfeit toys from China
Lithuanian customs officials announced that the Klaipeda Territorial Customs shave detained boxes containing 72 pieces of money-safe toys labeled «Avengers» and 288 units of board games labeled «Monopoly». The cargo weighed 202 kilograms in total. The transit declaration provided to the Customs said that the consignee of the goods was a company in Belarus’ capital of Minsk. Klaipeda customs officials have launched an investigation into the shipment.
Lifosa set to resume production
Lithuania’s Lifosa, the Kėdainiai-based phosphate fertilizer maker, which is under the supervision of a temporary administrator and suspended its operations in September, plans to resume production on the 10th of December, a company representative announced. On the 9th of November, EuroChem Group, Lifosa’s Swiss-based owner, said its cooperation with the government-appointed administrator had resulted in the lifting of some supply restrictions, with Lifosa expected to resume operations in early December. On the 14th of September, Lifosa temporarily suspended production due to a lack of ammonium, one of the key raw materials, as well as a spike in gas prices.
President signs 2023 budget package into law
President Gitanas Nausėda on the 1st of December, signed into law next year’s government budget and accompanying laws, as well as the 2023 budgets of the State Social Insurance Fund (Sodra) and the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. The 2023 budget allows raising defense spending up to 3 percent of GDP through borrowed funds, provided that the overall general government deficit for the year does not exceed 4,9 percent of GDP. Lithuania’s general government debt is expected to decrease to 43 percent of GDP as of late 2023, almost two percentage points lower than this year’s estimate of 44,8 percent. Next year’s central government budget revenue is projected at 15,544 billion euros, with expenditure planned at 18,629 billion euros. Next year, the non-taxable income threshold will rise by almost 16 percent, from 540 euros to 625 euros, and pensions will increase to 542-575 euros depending on the length of service. The budget provides a total of 1,848 billion euros for subsiding electricity and gas prices for households and businesses, and for investments in renewable energy, with another 1,58 billion euros earmarked for increasing people’s incomes and almost 305 million euros for national security.
Lithuania submits EC request for 565-million-euro EC payout
Lithuania has submitted its first request to the European Commission for a 565 million euro grant from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility after a slight delay. Lithuania is expected to receive the funding after the EC’s positive assessment, the Finance Ministry said. Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė says this is a significant step in carrying out the country’s recovery and resilience plan, named New Generation Lithuania. The plan consists of 191 indicators, progress on which is monitored together with Commission experts. Once a payment request is submitted, it usually takes the EC two months to assess it, and upon approval by the EU Council, funds are allocated – in Lithuania’s case – for the first 33 indicators, according to the Finance Ministry. It was said earlier that Lithuania would be eligible for up to 3 billion euros in loans and 2,225 billion euros in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Lithuania’s annual inflation one of the EU’s highest in November
Lithuania’s EU-harmonised annual inflation rate in November, at 21,4 percent, was one of the highest rates in the EU, the latest figures from Eurostat showed. In Lithuania, inflation inched down 0,7 percent over a month. The same rate was also recorded in Estonia. And Latvia reported an inflation rate of 21,7 percent for November.
Vilnius starts removing Soviet sculptures from the cemetery
Vilnius’ municipality has started removing the statues of Soviet World War Two soldiers from the capital’s Antakalnis Cemetery, Mayor Remigijus Šimašius said on Wednesday, November 30, adding that the work may take up to three weeks to complete. The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has asked the Vilnius authority to delay the removal – a group of Russian-speaking Lithuanian citizens had asked it to say if the sculptures did not constitute cultural heritage. The Justice Ministry said last week that the UNHRC had left in place its interim measures. The statues are being removed despite the UNHRC decision. The Interior Ministry and municipal officials say that the committee was misled by the arguments of the petitioners who claim that the monument will be desecrated and the nearby remains reburied. The municipality plans to transfer the sculptures to the National Museum of Lithuania after they are removed.
Foreign minister says NATO countries should start sending tanks to Ukraine
NATO countries should start supplying Ukraine with tanks, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on the 29th of November. This, he says, would also help the Alliance to solve the problem of draining arms depots as there’s no shortage of tanks in its countries. In his words, NATO countries have virtually unlimited ammunition resources for key battle tanks. Some countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic, have already sent tanks to Ukraine. Earlier this week, Landsbergis visited Ukraine together with his Baltic and Nordic counterparts.
Phone numbers of 220,000 Lithuanians among leaked WhatsApp data
More than 220,000 phone numbers of Lithuanian consumers are among the allegedly leaked data of nearly 500 million WhatsApp users, the Cybernews news portal reported. 487 million mobile phone numbers of alleged WhatsApp users from 84 countries were offered for sale on a well-known hacker community forum, it said.
Week in Lithuania | Customs nab shipment of fake toys from China. President signs 2023 budget package into law
