Linas Jegelevičius
Last week, Defence Ministry proposed to shorten military service to 6 months, Transport Ministry and Lithuanian Railways signed a 10-year contract.
Lithuania’s economic sentiment down in December
Lithuania’s economic sentiment indicator, which measures confidence in the economy among producers, consumers, and investors, slid from minus 14,8 in November to minus 11,9 in December, falling for a seventh consecutive month, the State Data Agency said on the 6th of January. The war in Ukraine and rising energy prices had a major impact on the change as, in December, 4,1 percent of respondents reported that their company’s activities were constrained by the situation caused by the war, and 3,9 percent said they were affected by rising energy prices. Year-on-year, the composite indicator fell by 16,4 percentage points in December.
Seimas vice-speaker calls for publicly naming firms that trade with Russia
Lithuanian companies trading with Russia and other aggressor states should be publicly named, Andrius Mazuronis, deputy speaker of the Lithuanian parliament and leader of the opposition Labour Party, said on the 6th of January.
Mazuronis thinks that official sanctions against such businesses will not work, noting that companies that want to trade with China have found ways to circumvent Beijing’s ban on imports from Lithuania in place since 2021.
Figures from the State Data Agency, formerly Statistics Lithuania, show that Lithuania’s exports to Russia totaled 856 million euros (655 million euros excluding electricity exports) in the third quarter of 2022, compared to 772 million euros (754 million euros) in the first quarter.
Lithuania reports 326 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death
Lithuania recorded 326 new coronavirus infections and one death from COVID-19 over Thursday, NVSC, the country’s public health authority, reported on Friday, the 6th of January. One of the fatalities was a person in their 40s who was not vaccinated. The other two were vaccinated persons in their 70s and 90s. Of the new cases, 234 were primary, 86 were secondary and six were tertiary. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 now stands at 149, including ten ICU cases. The 14-day primary infection rate has edged down to 172,8 cases per 100,000 people, but the seven-day percentage of positive tests has ticked up to 17,5 percent.
Vilnius Airport to test wastewater amid COVID-19 situation in China
Vilnius Airport plans to start testing wastewater amid the deteriorating COVID-19 epidemiological situation in China. The move will follow this week’s EU-level consultations, Audrius Ščeponavičius, a representative of the health Ministry said on the 5th of January. The EU now recommends that Chinese tourists take a COVID-19 rapid antigen test and only travel with a negative result, he said.
Also, the EU recommends that countries continue with sequencing tests.
According to the Health Ministry, some 3,5 percent of cases in Lithuania are currently tested.
Defence Ministry proposes to shorten military service to 6 months
Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas on the 5th of January submitted proposals to increase the number of conscripts and offer more alternatives to compulsory initial military service. The basic service would last for six months and a total of 5,000 conscripts would be called up annually.
He says reform would allow us to increase the number of conscripts from 3,800 to 5,000 in 2027.
Half of the conscripts would be assigned to the reserve after completing the six-month service and the other half would continue their service for another three months on a voluntary basis, according to the minister.
Ministry, Lithuanian Railways sign a 10-year contract
LTG Link, the passenger services arm of Lietuvos Geležinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), Lithuania’s state-owned railway company, and the country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications signed a contract on passenger services in 2023-2032 in late December. The contract is the first of this kind in the company’s history. The 10-year contract includes a commitment to provide public rail passenger services, to make rail travel more convenient for all people, and to promote the use of more sustainable public rail transport. As Lithuania prepares to fully electrify the Vilnius-Klaipeda railway section by 2024, LTG Link will need around 30 new trains, some electric and some hybrid, and they will be able to travel on pre-charged batteries for up to 100 km of the non-electrified stretch, the company said.
French company to advise on the dismantling of Visaginas NPP
France’s Bureau Veritas Exploitation will advise Lithuania’s Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant (VNPP) on the dismantling of its nuclear reactors, under a contract worth up to 9 million euros. The plant, which was shut down in 2010 and is now being decommissioned, and the French company, the winning bidder, signed the seven-year project management and technical consultancy contract on the 4th of January.
President inks amendments on compulsory school tests
President Gitanas Nausėda on the 3rd of January signed amendments on the introduction of compulsory school tests for grades 4 and 8, and also set a threshold as of 2025 for Grade 10 students to continue their education in gymnasiums. According to the president, the parliament adopted the amendments after taking into account the changes he proposed after discussing them with social partners. Under the new rules, tests will become compulsory for Grades 4 and 8, but there will be no more tests for Grade 6. Under the new scheme, the gymnasium threshold will be phased in for 10 graders, starting with four points in 2025 and going up to five points from 2029. Under the new rules, 10-graders will complete their basic education not only by completing the basic education curriculum but also by passing a Basic Education Achievement Test (PUPP) and receiving satisfactory grades. Those who fail to pass their PUPP test will be able to retake it or will be offered the option of repeating the whole Grade 10 course.
President calls Benedict XVI’s death a great loss for Church
The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is a great loss for the Church and for all the faithful, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on the 3rd of January, after paying tribute to the late pope and signing a book of condolences at the Apostolic Nunciature in Vilnius. Nauseda attended Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funeral on Thursday.
The appeal court obligated Linava’s ex-execs to pay 250,000 euros to the association
Valdas Gilys, Linava’s former secretary general, and Adolfas Darginavičius, its former chief financial officer, have to pay around 250,000 euros in damages to the national road carriers’ association, a court ruled on the 2nd of January. On the 20th of December, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal rejected the appeals of Gilys and Darginavičius, upholding the first-instance court’s ruling.
Last June, the Vilnius Regional Court ruled that Linava had suffered major financial damage due to certain tax law violations committed while the two men held the top positions at the association.
The court ordered Gilys and Darginavičius to pay 226,000 euros and 13,000 euros in damages, respectively, and five percent interest. Linava went to court after the State Tax Inspectorate in 2019 fined the association 342,000 euros for unpaid value-added, personal income, real estate, and other taxes in 2007-2011.