At least 150 routes to reach Lithuania by air, development of climate-neutral and sustainable aviation, a significantly higher position in the global accessibility rating, increasing the GDP generated to 5 % – these are the main targets and the country’s aviation vision for 2030 emphasised by Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis on Tuesday at the presentation of the Lithuanian Aviation Guidelines 2030.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) together with the Bank of Lithuania (BoL), Financial Crime Investigation Service (FCIS) and the Centre of Excellence in Anti-Money Laundering have prepared the amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing aimed at strengthening the management of money laundering risks in the cryptocurrency sector, increasing its transparency and more stringent regulation of the operating conditions of service providers.

Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė met with representatives of companies that previously moved from Belarus to Lithuania and assured that Lithuania remains open to international businesses and is ready to provide a safe and stable environment to all international and war opposing companies from Belarus or Russia and their employees.

Parliament calls for immediate and substantial food aid to Ukraine and for the EU to make its food production more independent.

The Women’s Rights and Employment committees want EU companies with at least 50 employees to be fully transparent regarding their salaries.

The Seimas approved the proposals of the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation to allow the removal of companies from countries hostile to Lithuania from public procurement tenders in Lithuania; also, to terminate contracts that have already been concluded with such companies. The list of such companies will be approved by the Government or the termination of contracts already concluded with them from public procurement tenders published in Lithuania.

473 employees in France who lost their jobs following a drop in sales of vending machine products because of the COVID-19 pandemic should receive €4 million in EU aid.

In order to attract talented workers to Lithuania and increase the competitiveness of our country, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation proposes granting one-off benefits to highly qualified workers coming from abroad and to companies that will employ representatives of professions, that are in short supply in Lithuania. Lithuanian citizens, who have previously emigrated from the country, and Ukrainians fleeing the war also will be able to benefit from support for relocation to Lithuania.

In February, consistent growth in passenger and flight flows, as well as rising cargo volumes were observed at Lithuanian Airports. In February this year, all three airports handled more than 250,000 passengers compared to only 38,000 in the same period last year. In February of 2022, passenger flow at the airports comprises more that 60% of the pre-pandemic level (in 2019).

At the meeting with EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is visiting Lithuania now, Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė discussed Lithuania’s increased participation in European semiconductor projects in addition to talks about the most important economic security issues and EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus over Ukraine as well as their impact on Europe.