LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Monday, December 5, 2022
2.  Ban on oil shipments via Lithuania to Kaliningrad takes effect
3. No migrants turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus
4. Lithuania reports 30 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths
5. Public transport drivers go on strike in Vilnius
6. Lithuanian formin leaves for Kazakhstan for official visit
7. Almost half of Lithuanian MEPs publish lobby meetings – Transparency International
8. Lithuanian Customs seizes 4 mln counterfeit goods in 2022
9. Lithuania's stage director Tuminas works in Israel (media)
10. Two more howitzers shipped to Ukraine after repairs in Lithuania – minister   
11. Lithuanian rep gets elected to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Evaluation Body
12. Kaunas ECC events attract 1.2 mln visitors
13. Lithuanian cabinet okays legislation on power consumption cuts, solidarity contribution 
14. Lithuanian minister wants organizers to take more responsibility in inviting performers 
15. Illegally kept bears seized in Lithuanian are taken to reserve in Germany
16. Ukrainian singer says suffered reputational damage, to sue Vilnius concert venue 
17. Russian, Belarusian visa applicants in Lithuania to be asked abou war in Ukraine
18. 12 artists, including Kvedaravicius, candidates for Lithuania's natl culture award
19. Ukrainian singer says suffered reputational damage, to sue Vilnius concert venue  (expands)
20. Lithuania appoints its 3rd commercial attaché to Germany
21. Lithuania may get smaller-than-sought RRF funding, auditors warn 
22. Dismantling of Soviet sculptures to start at Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius
23. NATO jets scrambled 4 times last week to intercept Russian planes
24. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Upcoming events in Lithuania for Monday, December 5, 2022

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Monday, December 5, 2022:

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to meet with Ellen Germain, special envoy for Holocaust Issues at the U.S. Department of State, at 11 a.m.

PRIME MINISTER Ingrida Simonyte to pay a working visit to the US.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to visit Kazakhstan and meei wth EU Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

 Ban on oil shipments via Lithuania to Kaliningrad takes effect

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – The EU's embargo on most Russian oil imports, announced six months ago, comes into force on Monday. 

Depending on the specific commodity code, part of the sanctions take effect on December 5, with the rest to be enforced on February 5, 2023. 

Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG) says it does not yet have information on Russia's planned shipments of such cargo and what the quotas for these products are.

"Unfortunately, we don't have the information you are interested in yet," LTG Cargo spokeswoman Kotryna Dzikaraite told BNS.

Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Customs Department, was also unable to comment on the types and quantities of Russian oil cargoes that will be allowed to be shipped to Russia's Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad via Lithuania.

"The function of the Customs is only to check whether the data declared by the carrier and the actual data about the cargo are correct. We only receive information about the cargo a few hours before it arrives in Lithuania," she told BNS. 

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in an interview with Reuters NEXT last week that the sanctions on Russian oil would affect about 15 percent of the cargo transit to Kaliningrad via Lithuania.

The sixth package of sanctions against the Kremlin, which comes into full force on December 5, bans most oil imports from Russia. The embargo does not apply to oil imported by pipeline as a concession to landlocked Hungary.

The ban will also cover Russian fuel imports from February 5.

LTG Cargo, the freight subsidiary of LTG, has said it transported around 2.3 million tons of various cargoes to and from Kaliningrad via Lithuania between January and October this year. Oil and oil products accounted for around 60 percent of the total amount allowed by EU sanctions. Almost 0.9 million tons of oil and oil products were shipped in October alone. 

 

 

By Remigijus Bielinskas

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

No migrants turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Lithuanian border guards have in the past 24 hours recorded no attempts to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Monday morning.

The service did not register any attempted illegal crossings on December 1 and 2 either.

Latvia recorded seven attempts to cross the border illegally on Sunday, and Polish border guards denied entry to 34 irregular migrants on Saturday, according to the latest available information.

The daily number of migrants refused entry to Lithuania reached this year's high of 135 on September 20, nine fewer than the highest-ever number recorded on November 12, 2021.

A total of 10,800 irregular migrants have been stopped from entering Lithuania since January.

Lithuanian border guards have sent more than 18,900 people back to Belarus since August 3, 2021, when they were given the right to deny entry to irregular migrants. The number includes repeated attempts by the same people to cross the border.

The SBGS says that illegal migration to Lithuania and the EU is being facilitated by Belarusian officials. 

Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus illegally last year.

Lithuania calls the unprecedented influx of migrants from Belarus, which began more than a year ago, a "hybrid attack" by the Minsk regime.

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 645 093 86, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuania reports 30 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Lithuania has recorded 30 new coronavirus infections and no deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Monday morning.

Of the new cases, 20 were primary and ten were secondary.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 now stands at 128, including seven ICU cases.

The 14-day primary infection rate has risen to 160.5 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests up to 20.3 percent.

The daily number of new coronavirus cases remains well below the peak of over 14,000 reached in early February.

More than 1.2 million people in Lithuania have tested positive with COVID-19 at least once.

Some 70 percent of the Lithuanian population have received at least one coronavirus vaccine jab so far.

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 645 093 86, Vilnius newsroom

Public transport drivers go on strike in Vilnius

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Public transport drivers began an indefinite strike in Vilnius on Monday, demanding better conditions and higher pay.

Vilniaus Viesasis Transportas (Vilnius Public transport, VVT), a municipal public transport enterprise, says less then half of its buses left on Monday morning, but the majority of trolleybuses are running normally.

It was estimated on the eve of the strike that up to a quarter of buses and trolleybuses would stop running.

VVT and the Vilnius authorities say around 520 drivers, almost half of its workforce, joined the industrial actions, and they mostly included trolleybus drivers.

"I am urging drivers to reconsider their decision and not to go on strike, and to ensure the provision of services for Vilnius residents," Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius said on Friday.

Those joining the strike will not receive any pay, but the VVT trade union has promised to pay them 40 euros per day in compensation.

The strike comes amid disagreements between the VVT administration and the trade union over the pay system. This last-resort measure had been planned a year ago but was initially postponed due to court disputes, and then postponed due to a temporary agreement reached in late September. However, the latter was eventually terminated by the VVT after negotiations with the union failed.

VVT operates 76 out of 105 routes in Vilnius. Two other carriers, Transrevis and Kautra, also provide passenger services and they are expected to operate normally.

VVT has a total of 1,830 employees, including more than 1,100 drivers.

By Ignas Jačauskas

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 08, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuanian formin leaves for Kazakhstan for official visit

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is leaving for Kazakhstan for an official visit.

He is scheduled to meet with KazakhstanPresident Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Prime Minister Alihan Smaiylov, Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, and the Chair of the Senate Maulen Ashimbayev.

Their meetings will focus on bilateral political and economic relations between Lithuania and Kazakhstan, the international situation, as well as support for Ukraine.

Landsbergis will also visit the ALZHIR museum-memorial complex and lay a wreath in honor of the victims of totalitarianism.

This year, Lithuania and Kazakhstan celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 14, Vilnius newsroom

Almost half of Lithuanian MEPs publish lobby meetings – Transparency International

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Five of Lithuania's eleven members of the European Parliament have published at least one meeting with lobbyists and interest groups since the start of the current parliamentary term, according to a research brief released by Transparency International EU (TI EU) on Monday. 

With a share of 45 percent, Lithuania ranks 20th out of 27 member states by the percentage of MEPs who published at least one meeting between July 2019 and June 2022. 

Over the last three years, Lithuanian MEPs have published a total of 47 meetings, mostly with representatives of businesses and business associations.

Rasa Jukneviciene has published the largest number of meetings, at 20, followed by Juozas Olekas with 13, Andrius Kubilius with eight, Stasys Jakeliunas with four and Petras Austrevicius with two.

Across the EU, every second MEP (412 out of 705) has published at least one such meeting, with more than 28,000 meetings declared in total, according to the report.

Member countries with similar shares of MEPs who have published at least one meeting since the start of the term include Hungary with 48 percent, Bulgaria with 47 percent, Estonia with 43 percent and Italy with 42 percent. 

The list is topped by Luxembourg with 100 percent of MEPs, Sweden with 95 percent, Denmark and Finland with 93 percent each, and the Netherlands with 90 percent.  

The most active MEPs were members of the Greens/EFA group and the Renew Europe group with 112 and 61 meetings on average, respectively.

At the start of this parliamentary term in 2019, the European Parliament introduced new rules that require committee chairs, rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs to publish their meetings with lobby and interest groups on the parliament's website.  

The new rules also encourage all MEPs to declare their meetings on a voluntary basis.

The analysis is based on lobby meetings declared by MEPs on their individual pages of the European Parliament's website from the start of the current parliamentary term until July 1 this year.

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 645 093 86, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuanian Customs seizes 4 mln counterfeit goods in 2022

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - Lithuanian Customs has detained 4 million counterfeit goods this year, mostly empty cigarette packs meant for the production of smuggled cigarettes.

The value of seized counterfeit goods fairly similar every year, Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Customs, said.

"The trends are very similar. We had 80,000 goods in 2020, and 134,000 last year," she said. 

Arnas Neverauskas, executive director of the Lithuanian Tobacco Association, says a fifth of counterfeit cigarettes stay in Lithuania, while the rest goes to EU countries.

By Sniegė Balčiūnaitė

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 14, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuania's stage director Tuminas works in Israel (media)

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - Lithuanian stage director Rimas Tuminas, 70, is working in Israel after spending several decades in Russia.

In Israel, he is undergoing medical treatment and working on a play at Tel Aviv's Gesher Theater, the Lietuvos Rytas daily reported on Saturday. 

Tuminas agreed to help the Gesher Theater to finish a young director's play, with the premiere scheduled in mid-December.

BNS reported earlier that Tuminas' his interview with Russian television in November, 2021, sparked controversy after he downplayed the Motolov-Ribbentrop Pact, which led to the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, adding that he did not consider the Russians to be occupiers.

After his statements outraged Lithuania, Tuminas called it a provocation against him, saying that only part of his words were published, and he demanded a rebuttal from the TV station and the publication of the interview's full recording and the transcript.

After the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, the State Small Theater of Vilnius terminated the employment contract with Tuminas, theater's founder and artistic director.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 14, Vilnius newsroom

Two more howitzers shipped to Ukraine after repairs in Lithuania – minister   

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – As part of Vilnius' continuing military assistance to Kyiv, two more PzH2000 howitzers have been repaired in Lithuania and handed over to the Ukraine Armed Forces to be deployed on the battlefield, Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas has said.  

"Two PzH2000 howitzers repaired in Lithuania have been shipped to Ukraine," Anusauskas posted on Facebook on Saturday. 

"A total of six self-propelled howitzers have already been returned to Ukraine. Along with ammunition," he added. 

The minister said the howitzers had been repaired by a German-owned company in Lithuania. 

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has said that the repaired howitzers arrived in Ukraine on Saturday.  

The repair of howitzers damaged in battle will continue to be organized in Lithuania, according to the ministry. 

The howitzers and the necessary software were supplied to Ukraine by Germany and the Netherlands. Lithuania has allocated almost 2 million euros for the howitzer repair and software integration into the ammunition matrix.    

The Lithuanian national defense system's military support to Ukraine so far includes different types of weapons, ammunition, thermo-imaging equipment, UAVs, anti-drone equipment, training for military personnel, and other assistance as requested by the country that is fighting back against Russia's invasion. 

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 14, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuanian rep gets elected to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Evaluation Body

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Vilnius University Professor Rimvydas Lauzikas has become a member of the Evaluation Body of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Culture Ministry told BNS. 

Lauzikas was elected to the Evaluation Body during the Committee's 17th session in Morocco on Saturday.

His appointment is very important for Lithuania, Indre Viktorija Uzukukyte, a spokeswoman for the Culture Ministry, told BNS. "This is the first time a Lithuanian has been appointed to the Evaluation Body," she said. 

The Evaluation Body considers applications for the inclusion of intangible cultural heritage into the UNESCO lists.

"The involvement in the global expert network is very important for Lithuania to further strengthen the country's expert position within UNESCO," Uzukukyte told BNS.

By Sniegė Balčiūnaitė

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 14, Vilnius newsroom

Kaunas ECC events attract 1.2 mln visitors

KAUNAS, Lithuania, Dec 05, BNS – Lithuania's second-largest city of Kaunas has received 1.2 million visitors this year as one of this year's European Capitals of Culture, the organizers said on Monday.

And a total of 2 million people have visited Kaunas over the past five years since the Lithuanian city got the ECC title.

Some 26 million euros have been spent on the ECC program over five years.

In 2022, 11,800 professional artists performed at events, and 1,370 public events, exhibitions and performing arts performances took place.

Since 2017, the events have attracted almost 145,900 participants, with almost 18,000 of them being professional artists from Europe, America, South Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Lithuanians accounted for 70 percent of the participants.

Nearly 3,000 publicly-accessible events, exhibitions and performing arts performances have taken place over the past five years, and 1,500 volunteers have helped with these events.

The Kaunas ECC program has attracted over 50 sponsors who have contributed 2.8 million euros in services and funds.

The number of overnight tourists is estimated to have reached the 2019 level in the first ten months of this year, standing at 258,000, and the the number of Lithuanian tourists increased by a third.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 08, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuanian cabinet okays legislation on power consumption cuts, solidarity contribution 

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – The Lithuanian government approved on Monday a draft law to implement the EU's regulation aimed at curtailing energy prices, and amendments to the Law on Corporate Income Tax to introduce a solidarity contribution based on surplus profits made by energy companies. 

If passed by the parliament, the new legislation will set a target for public authorities to cut electricity consumption by 10 percent, and by 5 percent during peak hours.

It will also regulate the energy market's surplus revenue and will oblige the Energy Ministry, the National Energy Regulatory Council and Litgrid, the power transmission system operator, to sign an agreement with Sweden, the main exporting member state, on the sharing of surplus revenue. 

The amendments would regulate the solidarity contribution and the use of the funds collected. The contribution would apply in 2023 and only profits made above a 20 percent increase of the average taxable profits generated in the past four fiscal years would be subject to the levy. 

Deputy Energy Minister Inga Ziliene says that the State Tax Inspectorate, together with Baltpool, would control the calculation of the solidarity contribution and that the funds collected would be used to mitigate the impact of high prices on electricity consumers. 

"This measure (subsidizing electricity prices for consumers) is already in place, so the money will be used to restore state budget funds or to reduce borrowing," she said. 

The vice-minister said that the funds could also be used to encourage investment in renewable energy, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, promote more efficient energy use and provide financial support to help reduce energy consumption. 

In early October, the EU's Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council agreed that electricity exporting countries will have to share generators' surplus revenue with importing countries.

Lithuania is still in talks with Sweden, from which it imports a large part of its electricity, on the sharing of surplus revenue generated by power producers. 

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

Lithuanian minister wants organizers to take more responsibility in inviting performers 

KAUNAS, Lithuania, Dec 05, BNS – Private event organizers should take more responsibility when inviting performers of controversial reputation to Lithuania, Culture Minister Simonas Kairys said on Monday. 

"I think private event organizers should assume more responsibility," he told reporters, commenting on a planned Lithuanian tour of Svitlana Loboda, a Ukrainian pop singer with a career in Russia. 

"Let me remind you of the case of Latvia, where it was not the state, but the organizer or the venue that removed this artist from the program," Kairys said. 

"I believe this is how civil society should act and react, without involving the authorities, because when you involve the authorities, legal issues start to dominate, rather than moral ones." 

With the war in Ukraine ongoing, there will always be a risk to the reputation of any performer who has performed in Russia, according to the minister. 

"That risk will remain as long as the war continues, regardless of nationality, of who said what before or after the war, and of whether or not they have performed in Crimea," he said.

"On Friday, we once again sent out recommendations to private organizers to always assess that risk and to try not to involve either the state or state institutions in such ambiguous situations again."

Loboda was scheduled to perform in Siauliai, Panevezys, Klaipeda and Vilnius this week, but almost all of the concerts have been cancelled, except for the one in the capital which has been moved to another venue. 

The organizers did so after the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it was considering adding the singer to Lithuania's list of unwanted persons.

Loboda came onto the ministry's radar because of her concerts in Russia in the wake of Moscow's occupation of Crimea in 2014, including her performance at an event celebrating the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two in 2015.

However, Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas said later that the ministry had found no legal grounds to blacklist Loboda.

The singer was removed from the list of unwanted persons in Ukraine in March, which also had an impact on Lithuania's decision, according to him.

Lithuania has blacklisted Russian performers Khabib Sharipov, Natasha Korolyova, Oleg Gazmanov, Grigory Lepsveridze and Philip Kirkorov due to their support of the Kremlin's aggressive policy.

 

By Jūratė Skėrytė, Austėja Masiokaitė-Liubinienė

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 16, Vilnius newsroom

Illegally kept bears seized in Lithuanian are taken to reserve in Germany

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - Two illegally kept brown bears seized by officers from Lithuania's Environmental Protection Department have been taken to a bear and wolf reserve in Schwarzwald in Germany, the department said on Monday.

The female bears reached the reserve in Germany on December 2, it said.

The bears were seized from the Raubonys Park which illegally kept the animals. Offers found that the bears had been kept and put on display in the park in violation of the existing legal requirements and without necessary documents.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

Ukrainian singer says suffered reputational damage, to sue Vilnius concert venue 

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Svitlana Loboda, a Ukrainian-born pop singer who made a career in Russia, claims to have suffered serious reputational damage due to Lithuania's decision to consider blacklisting her, and is planning to sue Vilnius' Compensa Concert Hall for refusing to give her the stage.

"This situation did major harm to us, because we planned four concerts in Lithuania: in Siauliai, Panevezys, Klaipeda and Vilnius," Loboda told a news conference in Vilnius on Monday.

"The organizers stopped selling tickets when they heard the news. Compensa illegally refused to organize our concert and only informed us that our concert was undesirable," she said. 

Loboda said her lawyers are preparing a lawsuit against Compensa over its cancellation of the contract for the concert.

Her concert in the capital has been moved to Vilnius Entertainment Arena and all other planned concerts in Lithuania have been cancelled.

The singer said that a lot of lies about her had been spread publicly. She said that she has never visited Crimea after the 2014 annexation, either for work or personal purposes, and that she has never performed at a May 9 event marking the Soviet Union's World War Two victory.

It was these allegations that led the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry to consider adding Loboda to the list of unwanted persons. The ministry said later, however, that there were no legal grounds to blacklist her.

"I've never performed at Russian government concerts, this is a lie," Loboda told the news conference. "This was my principled position on concerts in Crimea and on May 9 events. I have always positioned myself as a Ukrainian artist." 

The singer, who was born in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, said she is now on a charity tour of former Soviet republics and the US to raise funds for her home town.

Loboda said she completely stopped her activities in Russia and left the country after the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. She currently lives in Riga.

 

By Jūratė Skėrytė

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 16, Vilnius newsroom

Russian, Belarusian visa applicants in Lithuania to be asked abou war in Ukraine

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - Russian and Belarusian citizens applying for residence permits or national visas in Lithuania will be required to fill in a special questionnaire on their views on Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Lithuania's Migration Department said on Monday.

The information provided in the questionnaire will have decisive influence on the decision-making process regarding a person's stay in the country, the department said, adding that if a foreigner refuses to fill in the questionnaire or if it's incomplete, their application will not be accepted.

"A foreigner who wants to come and stay in Lithuania will have to be sincere and open when filling in the questionnaire. Such a person will have to show that they are ready to cooperate with the country that receives them and allows them to stay in its territory," Evelina Gudzinskaite, director of the Migration Department, said in a statement.

The Migration Department might also require other foreigners to fill in the questionnaire. They will have to answer additional questions and provide information on their education, previous jobs, service in the armed forces, business ties, contacts with public authorities of NATO or non-EU countries, as well as their attitude towards Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

All Russian and Belarusian citizens aged 18 and over are obliged to fill in the questionnaire if they apply for the issue or replacement of a document granting or confirming the right to reside in Lithuania, for a new temporary residence permit or for a national visa.

Gudzinskaite says it will be an additional security filter that will allow for a more rapid identification of foreigners who, due to their past activities or links with non-democratic regimes, may pose a threat to Lithuania's national security.

Figures from the Migration Department show that 3,415 temporary residence permits were issued to Russian citizens and 1,250 permits were replaced in the first 11 months of this year. Last year, 2,062 permits were issued to Russian citizens and 1,572 were replaced.

By December 1, 22,890 temporary residence permits had been issued to Belarusian citizens and 5,127 had been replaced, compared to 15,318 and 5,232 respectively last year.

A total of 2,769 national visas have been issued to Russian citizens so far in 2022, compared to 2,858 in 2021.

This year, 1,961 national visas have been issued to Belarusian citizens, compared to 2,360 last year.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 645 093 86, Vilnius newsroom

12 artists, including Kvedaravicius, candidates for Lithuania's natl culture award

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - Twelve artists, including film director Mantas Kvedaravicius who was killed in Ukraine, are candidates for Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prizes, the Culture Ministry said on Monday.

The candidates were selected by a special commission after evaluating activities of 30 applicants in the area of culture and art.

The candidates also include writer Kazys Saja, art critic, exhibition curator and art expert Raminta Jurenaite, film director Mantas Kvedaravicius, writer Rimvydas Stankevicius and composer Zibuokle Martinaityte-Rosaschi, actor Dainius Svobonas, painter Zygimantas Augustinas, artist Julijonas Urbonas, opera singer Edgaras Montvidas, writer Gintaras Grajauskas, artist Jurga Barilaite, film director Giedre Zickyte.

The six final winners will be announced on December 12.

The Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prizes recognize the most significant works of culture and art that were created by creators in Lithuania or by the expatriate community over the last 7 years as well as their lifelong work.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

Ukrainian singer says suffered reputational damage, to sue Vilnius concert venue  (expands)

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – Svitlana Loboda, a Ukrainian-born pop singer who made a career in Russia, claims to have suffered serious reputational damage due to Lithuania's decision to consider blacklisting her, and is planning to sue Vilnius' Compensa Concert Hall for refusing to give her the stage.

"This situation did major harm to us, because we planned four concerts in Lithuania: in Siauliai, Panevezys, Klaipeda and Vilnius," Loboda told a news conference in Vilnius on Monday.

"The organizers stopped selling tickets when they heard the news. The Compensa concert venue illegally refused to organize our concert and only informed us that our concert was undesirable," she said. 

Loboda said her lawyers are preparing a lawsuit against the Compensa concert venue over its cancellation of the contract for the concert.

Her concert in the capital has been moved to Vilnius Entertainment Arena and all other planned concerts in Lithuania have been cancelled.

The singer said that a lot of lies about her have been spread publicly. She said that she has never visited Crimea after the 2014 annexation, either for work or personal purposes, and that she has never performed at a May 9 event marking the Soviet Union's World War Two victory.

It was these allegations that led the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry to consider adding Loboda to the list of unwanted persons. The ministry said later, however, that there were no legal grounds to blacklist her.

"I've never performed at Russian government concerts, this is a lie," Loboda told the news conference. "This was my principled position on concerts in Crimea and on May 9 events. I have always positioned myself as a Ukrainian artist." 

When asked whose territory Crimea is, she said initially that it belongs to the people of Crimea, but later clarified that it is a part of Ukraine, just like Donetsk and Luhansk.

The singer, who was born in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, said she is now on a charity tour of former Soviet republics, the US and Europe to raise funds for her home town.

Loboda said that at her concerts, she tells her fans about what is happening in Ukraine now and who is to blame for it, and that she is posting her unequivocal stance on social media.

"In all my charity concerts, I'm telling my fans that I'm against the war and urging all of them to be on my side, on Ukraine's side," she said.

Loboda said she completely stopped her activities in Russia and left the country after the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. She currently lives in Riga.

The singer called her earlier decision to concentrate her career in Russia "a mistake". 

"Yes, now that I'm here with you, of course I know it was a mistake, but I followed my childhood dream. I wanted to be a well-known artist. I didn't think about politics. I was a woman who was pursuing her goal and, without the help of sponsors, has achieved what I have today," she said.

According to Loboda, many Ukrainians worked in Russia and cooperated with Russians after 2014 and up to February 24, 2022, all the more so because this was not prohibited under Ukrainian law.

"When you're the number one artist in a certain country, a country that thinks it is powerful and that it can do anything, when you give up on that country... I've received a lot of offers to return to Russia for a lot of money and to support the Russian regime. I didn't agree, of course," the singer said. 

"For them it is a great tragedy, a great loss, because every well-known person who leaves the country is a great loss, and there is a lot of propaganda going on because of that," she said.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, after Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by mass protests in Kyiv. The Russian Armed Force openly invaded Ukraine in late February this year. 

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 08, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuania appoints its 3rd commercial attaché to Germany

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - Inga Rovbutas, a business and tax law specialist, has been appointed Lithuania's third commercial attaché to Germany. She is set to join two other incumbent attaches, Lina Gudelionyte-Gyliene and Arunas Sarka, the Economy and Innovation Ministry said on Monday.

"Germany is the largest investor in our country and one of Lithuania's most important trading partners. In view of the increased needs of our country's businesses, the number of commercial attachés in Germany has been increased to three," Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite said in a statement. 

Rovbutas has experience of working o various German projects in the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and Ukraine.

Last year, Germany came in second in terms of Lithuania's foreign trade turnover, third in terms of exports, and first in terms of exports and imports of goods of Lithuanian origin. Germany is also the largest investor in Lithuania, having already invested around 5.6 billion euros.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

Lithuania may get smaller-than-sought RRF funding, auditors warn 

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – The European Commission may not approve some of the measures under Lithuania's national recovery and resilience plan, meaning that the country may receive less funding than sought by the government in its first application, the National Audit Office has warned.    

Last week, Lithuania submitted, with some delay, its request to the European Commission for the first tranche of 565 million euros under the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste then said that the Commission would assess within a few months whether Lithuania has properly carried out the planned work. 

Auguste Purliene, principal auditor at the National Audit Office's Compliance Audit Department, says after auditing Lithuania's commitments under the RRF plan that the government still has some work to do on six of its commitments. 

Lithuania may see its funding cut if the Commission does not approve these commitments, she warned.  

According to Purliene, one of the 33 indicators to be implemented was the commitment to submit a draft law on property tax to the parliament for approval.

The Finance Ministry presented the bill publicly last week and plans to submit it to the parliament only in the spring. 

Mykolas Majauskas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, has said he doubts if the bill will be passed. 

"We have a similar situation with the Sustainable Mobility Fund. Although it has been officially presented, it has not yet been launched, and its regulation has not been fully finalized," Purliene told BNS.

"The government was also to set up the Innovation Agency and divest its stake in the body, but the process of selling the state's stake is stalling in the courts," she added.

Things are even worse when it comes to the planned school network reform, because a law providing for it has been contested in the Constitutional Court, according to the auditor.

"If the court rules negatively on this issue, there is a risk that the state might not receive the EU funding this area," she said. 

It was said earlier that Lithuania would be eligible for up to 3 billion euros in loans and 2.225 billion euros in grants under the RRF. 

 

By Remigijus Bielinskas

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

Dismantling of Soviet sculptures to start at Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS - The dismantling of monuments of Soviet soldiers will start at Antakalnis Cemetery in Vilnius on Tuesday, the local authorities said.

"Tomorrow, the dismantling of statues depicting WWII soldiers will begin at Antakalnis Cemetery (...)," the municipality said in its statement.

The monument will be carefully removed to avoid damaging it, and the works are expected to be completed within a few weeks, the Vilnius authorities said.

Last month, Lithuania's Justice Ministry reported that the UN Human Rights Committee had upheld interim measures for the protection of Soviet sculptures at Antakalnis Cemetery, thus formally preventing the Vilnius authorities from removing them for now.

The decision was made in response to a request from "ethnic Russians", including Kazimieras Juraitis, who is also involved in the controversial case of the International Forum of Good Nieghborhood, an association founded by Algirdas Paleckis, as well as by Dmitrij Glazkov, Tatiana Brandt and Anastasija Brandt. 

However, the sculptures will be removed despite the UN committee's decision.

The Justice Ministry and the Vilnius municipality maintain that the UN committee was misled by the applicants who claimed that the monument would be desecrated and the remains nearby would be reburied. However, there's no intention to do that, the authorities said.

The local municipality vows to hand the removed sculptures to the National Museum of Lithuania.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom

NATO jets scrambled 4 times last week to intercept Russian planes

VILNIUS, Dec 05, BNS – NATO's fighter jets stationed in Lithuania as part of the NATO air policing mission were scrambled four times last week to intercept Russian military aircraft flying in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea in violation of flight rules, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

On November 29, NATO jets were scrambled to identify and accompany a Russian AN-26 flying in the international airspace from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia.

On December 1, NATO jets took off to accompany a Russian IL-20 flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad.

On December 2, NATO jets accompanied a Russian IL-20 flying in the international airspace above Kaliningrad and returning back.

On December 3, NATO air policing jets were scrambled to identify and accompany a Russian SU-27P fighter jet flying in the international airspace from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad.

Some of the Russian planes were flying with their onboard transponders off, without flight plans and we not in contact the regional traffic control center.

The NATO Baltic air policing mission is carried out from air bases in Lithuania and Estonia.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 08, Vilnius newsroom

Upcoming events in Lithuania for Tuesday, December 6, 2022

VILNIUS, Dec 06, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Tuesday, December 6, 2022:

PRSIDENT Gitanas Nauseda to pay a working visit to Tirana, Albania, to attend the EU-Western Balkans Summit.

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to meet with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk at 9.30 a.m.; to attend a meeting of the Presidium of the Assembly of the Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian parliaments at 6 p.m.; to attend a virtual meeting with Robert Kelly Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee., at 7 p.m.

PRIME MINISTER Ingrida Simonyte to continue her working visit to the US.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to pay a working visit to Kazakhstan.

 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Vilnius newsroom