Linas Jegelevičius
In Lithuania, the spring session of the Seimas started this week, and one of the tasks ahead is the adoption of a decision on the ban on the breeding of fur animals, meanwhile, the Foreign Minister has announced that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is the leader of Belarus, despite the court parodies organized by the regime.
Pharmacies provide bank guarantees instead of paying millions in fines
A number of pharmacies that were fined a total of almost 73 million euros by the Competition Council last December are providing bank guarantees instead of paying millions of euros in fines, Rasa Montvilė, head of the Tamro and Benu pharmacies, said. According to her, the Law on Competition allows providing a bank guarantee equivalent to the amount of a fine in lieu of payment while court litigation is still ongoing. The fines include 27.5 million euros on Eurovaistine, 2.7 million euros on EVD, 1.27 million euros on EVRC, and 11,200 euros on Siromed Pharma. The four companies are part Euroapotheca, the owner of pharmacy chains and wholesale pharmaceutical operations in the Baltics and Sweden, and the e-commerce company Azeta. Limedika and Gintarinė Vaistinė, a company controlled by Limedika, were fined 7.4 million and 16.7 million euros, and Tamro and Benu, a company controlled by Tamro, were fined 9.2 million and 7.7 million euros, respectively. Some of the pharmacies have appealed to a court, asking it to annul the watchdog’s decision or to reduce the fines.
Parliament starts spring session
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, on Friday, the 10th of March, opened its regular spring session during which the government presented a tax reform package and candidates for Constitutional Court judges and intelligence ombudspersons. Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the speaker of the Seimas, said that at the top of the session’s agenda is legislation on national security and defense, the well-being of citizens, human rights, and reducing social exclusion. President Gitanas Nausėda, who met with the Board of the Seimas on the eve of the session, identified tax reform as the top priority, noting that it should not be linked to tax hikes. The agenda of the first sitting included a speech by Elzbieta Witek, marshal of the Polish Sejm, who was visiting Vilnius, and the swearing-in of Vilius Semeška of the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats as a new member of the Seimas.
Lithuania adds 306 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths
Lithuania recorded 306 new coronavirus infections and two deaths from COVID-19 over Thursday, the 9th of March, the public health authority, NVSC, said on Friday, the 10th of March. Of the new cases, 199 were primary, 91 were secondary and 16 were tertiary. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 now amounts to 138, including six ICU cases. The 14-day primary infection rate stands at 156.7 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 21.4 percent. About 1.18 million people in Lithuania have tested positive for COVID-19 at least once. Some 69.7 percent of people in the country have received at least one coronavirus vaccine jab so far.
The Russian ship, and private plane denied entry to Lithuania
Last week, Lithuania denied entry to a drifting Russian-owned ship into the seaport of Klaipėda, as well as denied entry to a private plane chartered by a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, authorities said on Thursday, the 9th of March. Transport Minister Marius Skuodis confirmed the facts to reporters after a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK). The Klaipėda Port authority said that the Belizean-flagged dredger Bystraya, which is subject to sanctions, had made several attempts to sail into the port but was refused entry and left for the port in Russia’s Kaliningrad. The Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (LTSA) said that a person with dual Israeli and Russian citizenship and a temporary residence permit in Lithuania attempted to fly from Israel to Lithuania last week on a privately chartered Embraer EMB-135BJ aircraft. The person presented his Israeli passport, but after the revelation that the person holds Russian citizens, he was not granted an exception and permission for their chartered aircraft to enter Lithuania.
Vilnius renames Alexander Pushkin museum
The Vilnius City Council on Wednesday, the 8th of March, agreed to rename the Alexander Pushkin Literary Museum, removing the reference to the Russian poet. The museum will now be called the Markučiai Manor Museum, after the area of Vilnius where it is situated. According to the explanatory note, this returns a historical name to the museum. The Alexander Pushkin Literary Museum has been operating in the building for some 70 years. In 1899, Varvara Pushkina, who had married the Russian poet’s son Grigory Pushkin, moved to Markučiai Manor near Vilnius. After her death in 1940, her will leave the house for the city with instructions to house a museum for Alexander Pushkin. It was opened in 1948 and was the first literary museum in Vilnius. The proposal has been coordinated with the Ministry of Culture, the Lithuanian Language Commission, and the Faculty of History of Vilnius University, according to the authors.
Intelligence claims Rosatom has covered up incidents in Belarus NPP
Belarus and Rosatom have withheld information on the incidents that occurred in the Belarussian nuclear power plant (NPP), as well as the defects that were identified in the systems of the reactors, the State Security Department and the Second Investigations Department under the Defence Ministry said in their annual national security threat assessment report published on Wednesday, the 8th of March. In April last year, the Astravyets plant’s Unit One was shut down for scheduled maintenance, but the defects found during it were not reported, according to the agencies. The launch of Unit 2, scheduled for 2022, was delayed due to technical issues, according to the report. The agencies also said that Rosatom has the ambition to expand its foreign operations and create dependence on its technologies.
Foreign Minister calls Tikhanovskaya leader despite shady court rulings
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday, the 8th of March, that the Lukashenko regime’s «kangaroo courts» will not change the reality that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is the legitimate leader of Belarus. His comment came after a court in Minsk on Monday sentenced exiled Belarusian opposition leader Tikhanovskaya in absentia to 15 years in prison. The charges, among others, included treason and a «conspiracy to seize power». She was also charged with creating and leading an extremist organization. Her trial followed those of several other government critics, including her husband, who was banned from running for president in 2020, and Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Lithuania moves toward banning fur farms
Lithuania’s government is proposing to outlaw fur farming altogether from 2027, offering a transition period and a one-million-euro fund to help businesses to prepare and set up other activities, Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Navickas said on Tuesday, the 7th of March. The government’s proposal will still be considered by the parliament, which has previously accepted the bill for consideration. There is quite a battle ahead in the parliament, however. Viktoras Pranckietis, liberal MP and chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee expressed opposition to the ban, saying it is anti-business. According to him, the legislative draft seeks to destroy business in Lithuania but will achieve nothing.
Week in Lithuania: Seimas starts spring session; Vilnius renames Alexander Pushkin museum
