In order to develop sustainable energy resources, thus reducing environmental pollution and increasing Lithuania’s energy independence, Lithuania is actively preparing for the development of offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea. The Klaipėda State Seaport Development Council, which met today in Klaipėda and was chaired by Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis, discussed how to speed up the implementation processes of this project.

Civil aviation challenges and exploitation of civil aviation for illegal migration, the progress of the investigation regarding a forced landing of a Ryanair aircraft in Belarus in May, and practical implementation of the Mobility Package are among the transport matters that are relevant for Lithuania to be discussed this week during the visit of Julius Skačkauskas, Vice Minister of Transport and Communications, in Brussels.

The Bank of Lithuania published the balance of payments for September 2021, which shows that:

Financial flows of Lithuanian Airports during the third quarter of this year show signs of recovery. Compared to the same period for the year 2020, the income of the Lithuanian Airports increased by about 60 percent and reached 10.3 million EUR (during the same period for the year 2020, the income of Lithuanian Airports reached 6.4 million EUR and 13 million EUR in the year 2019).

MEPs have fought for and obtained better support for health, research, climate action, SMEs and the young in next year’s EU budget, after talks with Council on Monday.

In order to increase the capacity of Klaipėda Seaport and the security of maritime transport, the Ministry of Transport and Communications intends to allocate an additional 10 million euros from the investments of the European Union (EU) fund for dredging the Port’s external and internal navigation channel. Once the project is implemented, the depth of the external channel of Klaipėda Seaport will be 16 m (currently 15.5 m), while the depth of the internal navigation channel will be 15.5 m.

A new draft EU law will ensure a minimum level of wage protection in all member states, in order to guarantee decent living standards for workers and their families.

In October of this year, Lithuanian airports served 368 thousand passengers. This is almost five times more than compared to the same time last year, when Lithuanian Airports served only 77 thousand passengers. In comparison with the record-breaking month of October in the year 2019 - when Lithuanian Airports managed to serve 622 thousand passengers - this year, Lithuanian Airports managed to recover 60 percent of the passenger traffic. Experts believe that such increase in the number of served flights allows for the presumption to be made that the aviation sector is in a very favourable position and will continue to grow.

To slow down the heating up of the housing market and the growth in the volume of housing loans, the Bank of Lithuania decided to increase the minimum down payment requirement for the second and subsequent loans to 30%. The exemption to this requirement will only be granted in the cases when the outstanding amount of each previous loan is lower than 50% of the value of housing purchased using that loan. The new amendments to the Responsible Lending Regulations will enter into effect on 1 February 2022.

For the first time Rail Baltica global project coordinator launches fully online hackathon with the aim to facilitate new ideas around the infrastructure of the future, linking people, nations and places. The Rail Baltica Hackathon will bring together over 100 participants from all three Baltic countries and beyond during a fully online 48h hackathon held on November 19-21, 2021. Participants from across the Baltic countries and beyond the region’s borders are invited to submit inspiring and innovative ideas in either of the three core elements: Connectivity, Sustainability and Community.