EU funding

Brussels officials are hinting at a looming loss of “several hundred” millions of euros from the European Union funds for Lithuania if the Seimas rejects the Government’s tax reform proposals, reports business news website Verslo žinios (vz.lt).

Lithuania will eliminate free charging stations for electric cars on national roads by the end of 2023, the Transport Ministry has said, adding that five years have been enough time to promote electric vehicles.

Lithuania and Latvia will continue to carry out projects under the EU-funded cross-border cooperation program without Belarus, at least for now, Interior Minister Rita Tamasuniene said.

If the European Union fails to provide sufficient funding for the Kaliningrad transit scheme, this will make travel by Russian citizens via Lithuania more difficult and may jeopardize security, Linas Linkevicius has warned.

Lithuania's Interior Minister Rita Tamasuniene has disqualified herself from any decision-making related to the distribution of EU funds for the Vilnius region where she resides.

Several Lithuanian ministers who met with President Gitanas Nauseda on Wednesday says Lithuania's budget will not avoid "shock therapy" and the country risks getting stuck in the middle income trap if EU cohesion funding drops.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, currently in Brussels, said on Friday he would seek to ensure significant EU funding for the implementation of goals aimed at fighting climate change.

A long-term budget proposal by Finland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, may significantly reduce support for Lithuania and is even more unfavorable than the previous plan from the European Commission, the Delfi.lt online news site reported on Thursday.

Lithuania has secured 10 million euros in EU funding for preparatory work for a new submarine cable to Poland, named Harmony Link, and around 5 million euros for another two energy projects, the Energy Ministry said on Friday.

Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways) has so far failed to complete the bidding process for a 250-million-euro Vilnius-Klaipeda railway electrification contract which the state railway company launched a year and a half ago.

The City Council of Vilnius decided on Wednesday to go ahead with the capital's national stadium project without EU funding, using its own funds and those provided by the central government.