The Seimas approved the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to adjust the 2022 budget and to increase spending on national defence up to 2.52 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). According to the Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė, such an adjustment will allow for an additional allocation of up to EUR 297.99 million to national defence and security this year.

Litcargus, aircraft ground handling agency operating at Vilnius Airport, announces that it has been testing the Scania Citywide LF electric bus for passenger transportation from the aircraft to the terminal since 17 March. Vilnius Airport has become the first airport in Europe to test a Scania electric bus for this type of transportation operation. Passengers and staff will be able to test and evaluate the new generation bus until 25 March.

On Thursday evening, Parliament and Council negotiators agreed new EU rules to limit the market power of big online platforms.

On March 10, Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys signed an intergovernmental agreement with Latvian Minister of Economics Jānis Vitenbergs on solidarity measures to ensure the security of gas supply.

Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis, together with the transport ministers of eight European Union (EU) countries, addressed a joint letter to the European Commission’s (EC) Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean, proposing a temporary suspension of the provisions of the Mobility Package which oblige to return the vehicle every 8 weeks to its country of establishment and restrict cabotage operations in the EU.

The Lithuanian transport and logistics sector, which stopped in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, started to recover and improve indicators last year. In 2021, its revenues, exports of transport services and cargo transport grew, the sector saw an increase in companies and employees, with the highest growth in aviation, as noted in the Transport Market Review 2021 prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The “right to repair” must encompass designing products that last longer and can be fixed, as well as labelling to better inform consumers and extending guarantee rights.

At the meeting with Google Vice President Markham Cho Erickson, Minister of the Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė proposed to move Google’s representation office from Moscow to Vilnius. According to her, Google could also help Lithuania fight against Russian and its ally Belarusian propaganda and disinformation online.

On Sunday, President Gitanas Nausėda extended congratulations to Pope Francis on the ninth anniversary of his election as leader of the Catholic Church.

The Government has agreed on the provision of humanitarian health-care assistance to Ukraine by sending medical teams through cooperation with the Ministry of Health.