Week in Lithuania: Tax reform package to be unveiled; Taiwanese fintech gets Lithuanian license

This week, Lithuania expanded cooperation with Taiwan, holding joint military exercises with France, while the Lithuanian Orthodox Church tries to reduce the influence of the Russian patriarchate, and the regulator ordered to block IP addresses to prevent the transmission of banned Russian channels.

Lithuanian troops and French fighters train over the Curonian Spit

The tactical air control party of Lithuania’s Žemaitija Infantry Brigade and the French Air Force’s Rafale fighter jets held an exercise on and over the Curonian Spit on Friday 17 March. France has sent its Rafale fighter jets to Lithuania for the first time to reinforce NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission, which has been led by Poland since December.

Lithuania adds 322 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

Lithuania recorded 322 new coronavirus infections and three deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, March 16, the country’s national health authority, NVSC, announced on Friday, March 17. March. Of the new cases, 227 were primary, 78 were secondary, 16 were tertiary, and one person was diagnosed with the virus for the fourth time. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 is now 130, including four ICU cases. About 1.18 million people in Lithuania have tested positive for COVID-19 at least once.

Orthodox Christians came closer to the status of an autonomous church

Lithuanian Orthodox Christians moved closer to the status of a self-governing church after the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate referred its request to the Council of Bishops for consideration on Thursday, March 16. Metropolitan Innokentiy, head of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church, said in a statement that the request to grant us the status of an autonomous church has been supported by both clergy and laity. Only three Orthodox churches under the canonical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate have self-governing status – those in Estonia, Latvia and Moldova.

The finance minister will roll out the tax reform package next week

The government’s proposed tax reform package is likely to be unveiled next week, Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė said on Thursday (16 March). The minister said that not all information published in the media is accurate, adding that the reform must be seen as a whole, rather than as individual taxes. The reform package is rumored to include a new tax rate of 25 percent for work-related income. The rate will apply to a person’s annual income of between 60 and 120 average wages. Lower and higher income will continue to be taxed at the current rates of 20 per cent and 32 per cent respectively. The media also said that an amendment to the Personal Tax Act also requires that the current provision that allows private individuals to deduct part of their contributions to third pillar pension funds and life insurance premiums from their taxable income must be removed.

Taiwanese fintech company gets Lithuanian license

FinCause, a Taiwanese financial technology company, has received an electronic money institution license from the Central Bank of Lithuania, the bank said on Thursday (March 16th). The company plans to offer services to SMEs in Lithuania and the European Economic Area, Asian e-commerce companies selling products in Europe, P2P lending and crowdfunding platform operators, Baltic retail businesses and online stores, the central bank said. . FinCause was founded by Taiwanese entrepreneur Waylon Yeh, and the company in Lithuania was registered in February 2022, according to Lithuania’s registry center. It now has 3 employees. He had invested 3 million euros in FinCause as well as in Fortress Factoring, a company that employs around 10 people in Lithuania and Taiwan.

NSDC proposes disclosure of companies still operating in Russia and Belarus

On Wednesday, March 15, the Parliamentary National Security and Defense Committee (NSDC) supported its chairman Laurynas Kasčiūnas’ proposal to publish data on the economic relations of companies established in Lithuania with Russia and Belarus. According to the proposal, the right of Russian citizens or companies owned by them to acquire property in Lithuania will be suspended. Publicizing companies still operating in Russia and Belarus is proposed to encourage them to end their activities in those countries, Kasčiūnas said. The document also states that the number of Russians coming to Lithuania has increased significantly since Russia started its war in Ukraine and began its mobilization campaign in October.

Lithuania will hold the first offshore wind farm auction on 30 March

Lithuania is preparing to launch a tender for the development of a 700 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm without state aid, so the government on Wednesday 15 March approved the location of the project, the date of the auction and the requirements for bidders. It is expected that the National Energy Regulatory Council (VERT) will launch the tender on 30 March. The wind park will be located almost 36 kilometers outside the resort town of Palanga, northwest of another park with the same capacity that is planned to be developed with state support. The wind farm, which will be developed without state aid, will be located within one kilometer of Lithuania’s not yet ratified maritime border with Latvia.

The central bank says it has no concerns about the banking system’s liquidity

The Bank of Lithuania has no concerns about the liquidity of the country’s banking system, Simonas Krėpšta, a member of the central bank’s board, said on Wednesday (March 15th). He noted that in Europe, unlike in the US, liquidity requirements for small and medium-sized banks have not been eased. Lithuania’s deposit insurance fund has already reached the required level, and there are plans to increase its size more than necessary, according to the official.

The Storting committee approves all three candidates for the Supreme Court

On Tuesday 14 March, Lithuania’s Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs approved all three candidates for Constitutional Court judges. Stasys Šedbaras, who heads the committee and is one of the candidates for CC judge, withdrew from the discussion on this case. Šedbaras had been nominated by Gabriele Juodkaitė-Granskienė, Acting President of the Supreme Court of Lithuania. Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen proposes Supreme Court judge Aurelijus Gutauskas for CC judge, and lawyer Tomas Davulis is President Gitanas Nausėda’s nominated candidate.

Lithuania sees 60 percent growth in the number of tourists in 2022

Lithuania’s accommodation sector saw the total number of tourist stays increase by 60 percent last year from 2021 to 3.4 million, the Lithuanian Statistical Office said on Tuesday (March 14th). The largest number of tourists stayed in accommodation in Vilnius County (1.2 million), Klaipeda County (0.9 million), Kaunas County (0.6 million) and Alytus Country (0.4 million). These counties accounted for 90.2 per cent of all overnight stays in the country. The total occupancy rate at hotels, guest houses and motels increased by 54.2 per cent last year from 2020 to 34.2 per cent.

Watchdog orders blocking of IP addresses to cut off access to Russian TV channels

The Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (RTCL) has ordered internet service providers to block IP addresses this week to prevent further viewing of Russian TV channels subject to EU sanctions, the government said on Monday (March 13th). RTCL has established that EU-sanctioned TV channels are distributed on the Internet and that data packets for the banned TV channels are received using the IP addresses of the servers used to access NTV, Pervyi Kanal, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24 and RTR Planeta TV channels, says a press release. Last year, the parliament introduced a ban, until January 2024, against the retransmission and online distribution in Lithuania of TV and radio channels of entities established, directly or indirectly owned, controlled or financed by Russia and Belarus. However, some channels are still available online, according to the press release.