Lithuania’s national security is a key factor when deciding whether to hand over PzH 2000 howitzers and NASAMS air defence systems to Ukraine, President Gitanas Nauseda insists. “We will certainly do our best and we will continue to help Ukraine to the best of our abilities. However, I reiterate that defence must be ensured evenly…
Over the past two years, real estate prices in Lithuania have been rising faster than wages, which reduces the affordability of housing and may cause social problems, warns central bank chief Gediminas Simkus. “Housing is not just a piece of property, it is first and foremost a basic human need. It is the place where…
Finora Bank, co-founded by Estonian businessmen Veikko Maripuu and Andrus Alber, has begun operations in Lithuania, promising to bring new financing to the market, particularly for small businesses, the creative sector and the green economy. In the coming months, the new bank will start operations in Estonia. Maripuu said that financing for small businesses was…
The Lithuanian government on November 16 adjusted next year’s draft budget to allow raising defence spending to 3% of GDP through borrowed funds, provided that the overall budget deficit in 2023 did not exceed 4.9% of GDP. This would allow the government “to borrow between the level of 2.5% of GDP and 3% of GDP…
It is high season in Lithuania’s largest spruce plantation. Around 60,000 trees will be shipped off to Scandinavian countries before Christmas. However, with the Russian market cut off, this year will not be profitable for spruce growers. Daivanas Pranciulis, who grows about 1 million trees in his plantation near Zagare, northern Lithuania, started preparing for…
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) will provide almost 80,000 euros in one-time payments to Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania. “Citizens of Ukraine or third-country nationals who have fled Ukraine after February 24 can receive this cash-based assistance,” IOM Lithuania has said in a press release. “Special attention is given to unemployed single-parent families with one…
The number of refugees arriving in Lithuania from Ukraine is going down, Evelina Gudzinskaite, the head of Lithuania’s Migration Department, says, adding that the drop has been recorded in recent weeks. “At the moment, the inflow has gone down. Last month, we had over a hundred incoming war refugees from Ukraine every day. And now,…