In Lithuania, tripartite negotiations between the government, employers and workers on raising the minimum wage have begun, meanwhile, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda continues negotiations on the deployment of a German army brigade in Lithuania.
Defence ministry plans to allocate over 3 billion euro for ammunition acquisition
Lithuania’s Defence Ministry announced on Thursday, the 27th of April, it plans to allocate more than 3.1 billion euros for the acquisition of military stocks over the next ten years. Ammunition would account for approximately 90 percent of the military stocks that would be built up, while various engineer resources and explosive materials would comprise the remaining 10 percent. The required ammunition of various calibre would account for at least 12 percent of the entire defence budget each year. The share of defence budget spent on acquisition of military stocks increased to 18.3 percent in 2022, from 17.7 percent in 2021, and 11.2 percent in 2020. This year, the respective share is expected to reach 13.4 percent of defence budget, or approximately 0.25 billion euros.
PM downplays exorbitant prices in tenders for NATO summit
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said on Thursday, the 27th of April, that she sees no reason to doubt the transparency of procurements for the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, saying that some procurements are carried out by means of a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice due to objective factors. According to Šimonytė, the Litexpo Exhibition and Congress Center, which would host the summit, coordinated procurements with the NATO secretariat in late September, the exact date of the summit was known in November hence it was necessary to act quickly enough. Ongoing preparations for the NATO Vilnius summit in July have sparked a public discussion about the prices of services purchased for the event using a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice. Market players in particular questioned the transparency of the purchase of communication services and equipment by Litexpo, the state-owned exhibition and congress center. The service was bought from the telecommunications company Telia for almost 3 million euros. The NATO summit in Vilnius will take place in July.
President says German brigade remains priority
President Gitanas Nausėda said in Berlin on Wednesday, the 26th of April, that last year’s agreement on the deployment of a German brigade in Lithuania remains a common priority for the two countries. Yet, he acknowledged that Lithuania and Germany differ in their views on the size of the brigade. Vilnius is seeking the permanent presence of a full brigade in the country, but Berlin has so far only deployed its forward command element and says that part of the brigade will be stationed in Lithuania and part will stay in Germany.
President signs migrant deterrence bill into law
President Gitanas Nausėda on Wednesday, the 26th of April, signed into law legislative amendments allowing the authorities to turn away irregular migrants at the border under a state-level extreme situation regime or a state of emergency. The amendments to the Law on the State Border and the Guard Thereof, which formalise in law the existing practice of turning away irregular migrants at the border, were passed by the parliament on Tuesday and are set to take effect on the 3rd of May.
Two Lithuanians undeliberately crossed into Belarus
Two Lithuanian workers unintentionally crossed the border with Belarus illegally while carrying out work at the Medininkai border checkpoint on Tuesday, the 25th of April, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) confirmed on Wednesday, the 26th of April. Video footage recorded by both Lithuanian and Belarusian border guards shows two people with vests, with coils of some kind wires crossing the checkpoint. The two workers were fined 35 euros each for crossing of the border through negligence. Lithuanian border guards have recorded two cases of Belarusian officers entering Lithuanian territory, in the districts of Švenčionys and Šalčininkai, over the past week.
Russia, Belarus, China attempted recruitment in 2022
Russian, Belarusian and Chinese intelligence agencies made several attempts to recruit people in Lithuania last year, but they failed, the State Security Department (VSD) said in its annual performance report published on Tuesday, the 25th of April. The report also says that five Russian intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover were expelled from Lithuania last year and notes that the intensity of Russian intelligence activity remains high. Last year, information gathered by VSD was used in five pre-trial investigations, two of which concerned violations of international sanctions. Four people had their residence permits revoked due to a threat to economic security posed by their activities. Twelve people were banned from entering Lithuania: nine due to terrorist threats and three over links to hostile countries’ intelligence bodies. The Russian and Belarusian regimes are making considerable efforts to mitigate the impact of and find ways to go round international sanctions imposed on the two countries in the wake of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the report.
Lithuania will not benefit from electricity profit deal with Sweden
Lithuania still hopes to sign an agreement with Sweden on sharing electricity producers’ excess profits after the European Commission has told Stockholm to do so, but Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said on Tuesday, the 25th of April, that even if the deal is struck, Lithuania will not receive any money from Sweden because of falling prices. It was said earlier that Lithuania could only claim excess profits for December if it signed a deal with Sweden, because the average electricity price in Sweden’s fourth bidding area, from which Lithuania imports power via the NordBalt cable, then stood at around 248 euros per MWh. The average price ranged from 81.8 to 93.3 euros in January-March.
Tripartite Council starts discussion on minimum wage increase
Lithuania’s Tripartite Council representing the country’s government, employers and employees, will on Tuesday open discussion on the increasing of the minimum wage in 2024. According to Vytautas Šilinskas, Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour chairing the Council, experts from the Bank of Lithuania have been invited to attend the meeting of the Council to present the central bank’s estimates concerning potential minimum wage increases. The Tripartite Council has agreed that the minimum monthly wage should stand at 45-50 percent of the average salary, and the specific ratio should be equal to the three-year average ratio of one-fourths of EU member states with the largest ratios between the average salary and the minimum wage. This year, Lithuania’s minimum monthly wage stands at 840 euros.
Lithuania hails isolated operation test of its electricity system
Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator Litgrid last weekend performed an isolated operation test of the country’s electricity system. During the test, connections to the IPS/UPS system controlled by Russia were disconnected from the Lithuanian electricity system, which operated in the energy island mode for the first time ever on Saturday, the 22nd of April, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Electricity was supplied to consumers by power plants operating in Lithuania, as well as direct current connections with Poland and Sweden, but the balance and frequency of the electricity system was controlled by Litgrid dispatchers only. Lithuania is eager to step up the process of synchronisation with Continental European grids and complete it in 2024 but Latvia and Estonia want to stick to the earlier agreed target date of 2025.
Week in Lithuania: President signs law on migrant pushback; clears doubts about the procurements
