In March 2022, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will start direct flights between Vilnius and Zurich. The first flight is scheduled for 30 March 2022. Regular direct flights will be operated twice a week. The new route is strategically important for both Lithuanian Airports and tourism and business partners.

The UK, leader in the 5G project testing, shared its experience with Lithuania. In December, Lithuanian and UK experts had a remote session exchanging experience and lessons learned while implementing the 5G testbeds and trials programme, which is similar to the currently developed Lithuanian transport innovations Sandbox.

At the start of the new year, Lithuanian road financing will be subject to a new system, based on clearly defined criteria and long-term planning and with more emphasis on self-government. This will be ensured by the reorganisation of the fund administration system of the Road Maintenance and Development Program (RMDP), initiated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which was approved by the Parliament on 23rd December.

The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) have signed a cooperation memorandum to strengthen Lithuanian-US trade cooperation in goods and services.

• Five Lithuanian financial institutions agree guarantee transactions with European Investment Fund under “European Guarantee Fund” (EGF) to finance Lithuanian SMEs.
• The EGF guarantees, supported by the Government of Lithuania, will make available up to €364 million in new financing for SMEs dealing with the COVID-pandemic.
• The financing will be channelled to Lithuanian businesses through agreements signed with Faktoro, Finora Kreditas, Orion Leasing, PayRay Bank, and SEB Bankas, and is available as of today.
• EGF is part of the €540 billion EU emergency package for businesses and workers, agreed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Next year, the Ministry of Transport and Communications plans to focus on the development of strategic rail and road transport links, green transport transformation, digitalisation and promotion of transport innovation. In 2022, about 949 million euros are expected to be allocated for the transport sector from the state budget and the EU funds, and 203.7 million euros from the funds of the reserve progress programme. With the approval of the draft state budget for 2022 presented to the Government, the total amount of funds allocated to the Ministry of Transport and Communications will amount to 1.15 billion euros.

Following the proposal of the Bank of Lithuania, a specialised bank licence of Revolut Technologies UAB has been changed to a banking licence by the European Central Bank.

State institutions and market participants will continue to work together to strengthen Lithuania’s position as a regional financial innovation hub. Future vision, maturity and other issues relevant to FinTech companies were discussed at event organised by the Bank of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications calls on the European Commission (EC) to take without delay a decision to repeal the provision of the Mobility Package obliging trucks to periodically return to their country of registration. This position was expressed by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Loreta Maskaliovienė to the European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean during the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting in Brussels.

The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation signed a major investment project agreement with VMG Technics, an international investment company which belongs to the VMG Group. This company is creating an Industrial Innovation Park in Klaipėda, will invest up to EUR 50 million and create about 150 new jobs.