Last week, Opposition said it will question constitutionality of Landsbergis’ status, 70 new Covid-19 cases, one death reported over a single day
Nausėda invites US energy company to invest in Lithuania
President Gitanas Nausėda, on a visit last weekend to Philadelphia, has invited the US energy company Holtec to invest in Lithuania. Nausėda met with Holtec International President Kris Singh on Saturday, 2 July, and invited the company to invest in Lithuania and set up a service center division, as well as to cooperate closely with Lithuanian energy scientists, the Lithuanian president’s office said.
Fridge maker Snaigė files for restructuring
Snaigė, the Baltics’ only refrigerator manufacturer, has filed for restructuring. According to a draft restructuring plan approved by its shareholders, Snaigė on Monday, 4 July, asked the Kaunas Regional Court to open restructuring proceedings, the company, which is indirectly controlled by Russia’s Polair and now affected by sanctions, said. The restructuring plan calls for manufacturing and selling more professional, medical and exclusive household refrigeration appliances and for divesting some assets. Snaigė expects to grow revenue to over 35 million euros in 2026, from almost 25 million euros projected for 2022. The company’s net profit is forecast to reach around 270 000 euros in the first year of the restructuring and exceed a million euros in the last year.
Lithuanian, Moldovan presidents discuss regional security, energy issues
Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited Lithuania on Wednesday, 6 July. The guest and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda discussed regional security, energy independence, Moldova’s cooperation with the EU and Lithuania’s assistance to Moldova on its path of European integration, the Lithuanian presidential press service said.
Maxima Grupė issues 240-million-euro-worth notes
Maxima Grupė, the largest retail group in the Baltics, has placed a 240-million-euro issue of five-year senior unsecured notes. The notes were subscribed for by institutional investors from the Baltic and Nordic countries, and the United Kingdom and Poland, the Vilnius-based company said on Tuesday, 5 July. The notes attracted robust interest from investors and were placed at a fixed annual interest rate of 6.25 percent and a yield of 6.5 percent. The notes are expected to be listed on Euronext Dublin and Nasdaq Vilnius. The group placed its first 300-million-euro bond offering in September 2018, followed by two issues of one-year notes, worth 40 million euros and 35 million euros, in March 2021 and March 2022. Maxima Grupė owns retail chains operating under the names of Maxima in the Baltic countries, Stokrotka in Poland and T-Market in Bulgaria, and the Baltic and Polish online food shop Barbora.
Bayraktar drone arrives in Lithuania to be handed over to Ukraine
A Bayraktar combat drone has been delivered to Lithuania to be handed over to Ukraine, Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said on Tuesday, 5 July. The ministry used money donated by Lithuanians to equip the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle given to Lithuania by Turkey’s Baykar free of charge. The manufacturer’s move came after Lithuanians had donated 5.9 million euros to a campaign to buy a Bayraktar drone for Ukrainian forces fighting Russia’s invasion. Some 1.5 million euros of the raised funds were used to equip the drone. The Internet broadcaster Laisvės TV, the fundraiser, has decided to use the remaining sum for other forms of assistance to Ukraine.
A car cleaning firm says data of 50 000 customers leaked
Švaros Broliai, a Lithuanian car washing and cleaning services provider, said late on Monday, 4 July, that hackers had leaked data of around 50 000 customers, such as names, car registration numbers, e-mail addresses and phone numbers, stolen from its cleaning centres’ booking system. The company said payment-related information, such as bank account details and payment card details, and other highly sensitive data, such as personal codes and home addresses, had not been stored in the leaked database. The data are believed to have been stolen by hackers from Russia, according to the director.
PM’s car collided with scooter in Vilnius
The VIP Department’s car with Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė collided with a girl riding a scooter in Vilnius, Lithuanian media reported on Thursday, 7 July. The accident took place around 9 a.m. on Gediminas Avenue in central Vilnius on Wednesday. Neither the girl, nor the VIP Department officer had any complaints and the car was not damaged, according to the reports. Following the incident, the prime minister’s car continued its journey to the Seimas.
Lithuania reports 70 new Covid-19 cases, one death
Lithuania recorded 70 new coronavirus infections and one death from Covid-19 over Wednesday, 6 July, official statistics showed on Thursday, 7 July. Some 61 of the new cases were primary and the remaining nine were secondary. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals currently stands at 91, including five ICU cases. The 14-day primary infection rate has edged up to 158.8 cases per 100 000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests up to 35 percent. However, the daily number of new coronavirus cases is still way below the peak of over 14 000 reached in early February. More than 1 million people in Lithuania have tested positive with Covid-19 at least once.
Lithuania mulls issuing one-off permits for cement to Kaliningrad
With three days remaining until Russian cement and alcohol are added to the EU blacklist, a new proposal has emerged on how the Kaliningrad region could be supplied if the transit of these goods via Lithuania is suspended. Laima Liucija Andrikiene, chair of Lithuania’s parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, confirmed it to the 15min.lt news website on Friday, 8 July, that the possibility of issuing one-off permits for the transportation of cement in exceptional cases was now on the table. Lithuania banned the transit of steel and ferrous metals through its territory from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad after the EU sanctions, part of the fourth sanction package adopted in mid-March, came into force on 17 June. Also, under the sanction package, a ban on the transit of cement, alcohol and other products is set to enter into force on 10 July.
Opposition to question constitutionality of Landsbergis’ status
The opposition will turn to the Constitutional Court over the parliament’s recent decision to grant the status of head of state to Vytautas Landsbergis, Ramūnas Karbauskis, chairman of the opposition Farmers and Greens Union, said on Friday, July 8. Last week, the parliament recognised that the president of the Supreme Council, the post held by Vytautas Landsbergis at the time, was the first head of state of Lithuania after it declared independence from the Soviet Union on 11 March, 1990. According to the Farmers and Greens’ leader, the decision contradicts both the situation and logic itself.
Week in Lithuania: Russian firm-owned fridge maker files for restructuring, Bayraktar drone arrives, to be handed over to Ukraine
