Lithuania’s state-owned LNG terminal operator, Klaipedos Nafta, plans to expand the annual regasification capacity of its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the Independence, from 3.75 bcm to 5 bcm, Baltic News Network reports. Earlier, the company planned to expand the Klaipeda-based terminal’s capacity to 6.25 bcm. CEO Darius Silenskis expects the company to make…
Lithuania’s Vilnius University has dismissed Russian professor Andrey Desnitsky, who earlier denied the occupation of the Baltic States, LRT reports. Professor Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, dean of Vilnius University’s Faculty of Philology, said that Desnitsky, who had been working as a researcher and lecturer at the university since autumn 2022, had earlier written publications in which he…
Lithuania’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Mantas Adomenas, has resigned after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol, BNS reports. Police stopped him in the town of Alanta. Adomenas said that he had 0.62 permilles of alcohol in his bloodstream. He apologised for the incident and said that he would resign. Adomenas was appointed deputy foreign…
Lithuanian mobile operators criticised the government’s plan to introduce mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards as of 2024, LRT reports. The government argues that mandatory registration is necessary due to phone fraud and other criminal activity. Vytautas Bucinskas, head of business assurance at Telia Lietuva, pointed out that prepaid SIM cards were often used by…
Estonian ride-hailing service provider Bolt will separate its taxi drivers in Lithuania by language proficiency, ELTA reports. Bolt spokesman Mantas Cizas siad that the company would apply stricter standards to communication and behaviour in the “Bolt” category, requiring that drivers speak fluent Lithuanian or English. Those who fail to do so can continue in the…
Belarusian exiles in Lithuania have protested against what they say is “growing hostility” towards Belarusians, BNS reports. Volha Karach, director of the Lithuania-based NGO, Nash Dom (Our House), said that Belarusians in Lithuania were “victims of their openness.” She noted that Lithuanian authorities now deemed past military service or links to state institutions in Belarus…
Lithuania’s Energy Ministry plans to increase the protection of the country’s electricity infrastructure and Polish-owned oil company Orlen Lietuva’s refinery, BNS reports. Under an order drafted by Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys, the state will place key electricity infrastructure, including network connections with other countries, at a higher level of protection. Also, the state will place…
Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are discussing the possibility of closing their borders with Belarus completely, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite announced, BNS reports. Bilotaite said that the final details of a “synchronous regional decision” would be worked out at talks in Warsaw on 28 August 2023. Earlier, the Lithuanian government closed two checkpoints on the…
The three Baltic States have joined the G7’s Declaration of Support for Ukraine, ERR reports. The declaration aims to provide Ukraine with sustained political, military, financial, and economic assistance through bilateral agreements. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte expressed their “unwavering support” for Ukraine until…