Foreign investment

Lithuania lags behind Estonia, Poland and Latvia in terms of business conditions, according to a new rating by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Investors' confidence in Lithuania's business climate has been growing throughout the year, as well as in the last quarter, when Eastern Europe was shaken by instabilities, an Investor Confidence Index for Lithuania by Investors' Forum has showed.

Under amendments adopted by Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday, the authorities will up scrutiny on investments that might pose threats to national security. The country will also update the list of strategic national security objects.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė said on Thursday that in order to protect Lithuanian from investments by unfriendly states, companies must be subjected to thorough scrutiny before they are allowed to invest in projects close to strategic facilities.

It is hardly surprising that in the atmosphere of instability that the Baltic states have found themselves lately, the Estonian state keeps regarding Russian capital as a source of major risk.

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė on Wednesday submitted legal amendments for parliament's approval, suggesting that investment in strategic economic sectors and in territories near strategic objects be subjected to extra scrutiny in order to assess implications to national security.

Foreign capital companies are rather happy with business conditions in Lithuania, shows Lithuania's Investors' Confidence Index.

The US giant in health care technologies and services Intermedix Corporation opened its first international services centre in Lithuania and invested LTL 17.5 million (EUR 5.07 million) in its centre in Kaunas, Invest Lithuania informs.