"Last year we launched a €67 million call for potential investors in the polluted districts of Akmenė, Jonava and Mažeikiai. This call attracted a lot of interest, and the amount of funding requested was many times higher than the funds available. We have therefore looked for ways to fund more projects and will use the savings and additional funds to provide additional funding to attract future investment to our country and increase the number of sustainable jobs, creating even more opportunities for Lithuania," said the Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė.
39 project implementation plans were received under this call. Small and medium-sized enterprises were eligible to apply. The maximum amount of funding available per project is EUR 8.5 million.
"As there are more projects to be funded than we can allocate from the amount of the call, we will create a list of reserve projects. We plan to transfer the shortfall from other Equitable Transformation Fund activities where there are unallocated funds. This will allow us to finance companies that invest in production and services, train and upgrade workers and provide on-the-job training," says Iveta Paludnevičiūtė, Chancellor of the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation.
Of the €1 billion plan announced last year to strengthen Lithuania's economy, €165.2 million from the Equitable Transformation Fund has been allocated to the industrial transition to a climate-neutral economy, and a further €97.6 million to create sustainable jobs by investing in the creation and development of industrial parks and attracting investors.
The funding will focus on companies in the districts of Akmenė, Jonava and Mažeikiai, which are among the most polluting industrial enterprises in Lithuania and account for a significant share of the value added in the Lithuanian economy. To become less polluting, they need to be transformed, which takes time and investment.
The measure "Attraction of foreign and local investors with high job creation potential in the municipalities of Akmenė, Jonava and Mažeikiai districts" is financed by the Equitable Transformation Fund of the European Union Investment Programme 2021-2027.
