The world’s largest bicycle manufacturer, Dutch-based Pon.Bike, has opened a new production facility in Kedainiai in central Lithuania, BNS reports. The company invested EUR 57mn in the factory, which will produce up to 450,000 bicycles per year. The facility, located in the Kedainiai Free Economic Zone (KLEZ), will employ around 600 people. Under an agreement…
Lithuania’s state-owned airport operator, Lietuvos Oro Uostai (LTOU), has completed the construction of a new departure terminal at Vilnius International Airport (VIA), BNS reports. The airport will open the new 14,000 m2 terminal for passengers in February 2025. The airport will then be able to handle two times more passengers than at present. The general…
Lithuania’s Vilnius Regional Court has found Lithuanian lawyer Mantas Danielius guilty of spying for Belarus, ELTA reports. The court sentenced him to nine years in prison. The ruling is subject to appeal. The investigation found that Danielius had spied on the exiled Belarusian opposition in Lithuania and passed on the information to a journalist at…
Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste welcomed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision to postpone its planned mission to Russia indefinitely, BNS reports. Earlier, the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as Poland urged the IMF to reconsider its decision to resume consultations with Russia. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Skaiste noted that it…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has submitted to parliament a proposal to revoke three treaties with Russia and Belarus on economic cooperation, BNS reports. Nauseda proposed denouncing treaties on the promotion and protection of investments with Belarus and Russia as well as a treaty to avoid double taxation with Russia. Lithuania signed all three treaties in…
The Lithuanian government plans to allocate 3% of GDP to defence in the 2025 draft budget, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste told Ziniu Radijas, BNS reports. However, if the economic indicators allowed, the government could borrow more for specific defence needs, she added. The minister noted that the projected 3% growth of GDP in 2025 would…
US technology company Google has removed altogether 18 Belarusian radio and TV channels from its YouTube video platform following a request from the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (LRTK), BNS reports. LRTK said that the accounts were directly linked to the Belarusian state broadcaster, Belteleradiocompany (BTRC), which is under EU sanctions. LRTK had made…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has voted to keep a civil union bill to recognise same-sex partnerships on the agenda of the parliament’s autumn session, BNS reports. Altogether 48 MPs voted to keep the bill on the agenda, another 48 were against, and 7 abstained. MPs initially supported the civil union bill in spring 2023….
The Lithuanian government is ready to send aid to Poland amid heavy floods caused by Storm Boris, BNS reports. Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) has offered Poland a high-capacity container pumping station and sandbagging equipment. Also, a team of 15-20 rescue workers stand ready to go to Poland. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry advised travellers…