“After the final approval of almost all indicators of the first payment application, Lithuania will receive a subsidy of more than EUR 500 million in mid-May. This is a significant result in a relatively short lifetime of the plan and relevant assessment by the European Commission that we are moving in the right direction," said Minister of Finance G. Skaistė. At the same time, we want to seize the opportunity to further promote the green transition and transformation of the Lithuanian industry by strengthening the resilience of the national economy, therefore we will supplement the existing plan with a loan of up to EUR 1.9 billion. By this amount we will enable businesses to finance additional investments in high value-added industries, greening of production processes, development and deployment of new technologies and exports. We will also direct additional funds to the development of renewable energy capacities and energy efficiency solutions.”
The Minister of Finance presented to the Commissioner the priorities for the amendment to the plan “New Generation Lithuania”, noting that the changes in the plan will respond to geopolitical realities and strategic goals of Lithuania and at EU level.
Supplementing the plan “Next Generation of Lithuania” it is foreseen to use the Recovery and Resilience Facility and to borrow up to EUR 1.7 billion, as well as to draw on funds of the initiative REPowerEU in the amount of EUR 194 million.
The updated plan will provide for a new financial instrument of up to EUR 1 billion for the development of green, innovative, digital technologies and the production and export of high value-added products, thus
enabling the Lithuanian businesses to become faster a more active participants in the green transformation market and to strengthen their competitive advantage.
The ambition to produce all the electricity needed by the State from renewable energy sources by 2030 will be doubled by speeding up the implementation of the 1-gigawatt project, which will ensure the energy independence of the Lithuanian electricity sector, as well as almost EUR 700 million will be allocated for solar and wind energy production, which will be supplied to energy poverty communities, businesses and municipalities and to central government buildings.
The supplement to the plan also foresees additional investment for renovation of buildings, ensuring cybersecurity through the development of new technologies and equipment.
At the meeting with Commissioner P. Gentiloni, also the prospects for the fiscal policy and ongoing review of the EU fiscal rules have been discussed. Minister G. Skaistė emphasised the need to ensure that the result of the review of the rules is sound, effectively implemented and the regime increasing the sustainability of public finance. The Minister also stressed that in the current geopolitical context, it was important to foresee a reasonable flexibility in defence spending, thus ensuring that countries, especially those at the EU external border, had a sufficient space to increase investment in defence capabilities.
The meeting took place in Stockholm, Sweden, in the context of informal meetings between the Eurogroup (EG) and the European Union (EU) Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) taking place on these days.
