Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Lithuania extends temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees for another year

The Lithuanian government has extended the temporary residence permit in Lithuania for Ukrainian residents who fled the war, LRT reports.
“Previously, this protection was established until March 2025. The government has extended the temporary protection until March 4, 2026. This means that it will be possible to issue temporary residence permits that will be valid until that date,” the report said.
According to the Department of Migration, 30-40 new applications for a temporary residence permit in Lithuania are registered daily. Currently, more than 44.3 thousand people have a valid residence permit in Lithuania on the basis of temporary protection.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Agne Bilotaite, the extension of the deadline will allow Ukrainians to reduce the administrative burden, as they will have a residence permit valid for a longer period of time.
The extension of this period was proposed on the basis of the relevant decision of the European Union (EU) adopted in June this year.
The temporary protection mechanism at the EU level was activated on March 4, 2022, shortly after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

Lithuania allocates EUR 35 mln to Ukraine for purchase of radars

Lithuania is allocating EUR35 million to Ukraine for the purchase of radar and demining equipment, and plans to supply more than 5,000 Lithuanian-made drones by the end of the fall, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonite said.
“At our meeting today, I informed President Zelensky that the recent package of military assistance from Lithuania to Ukraine will arrive in early September. It will include 10 short-range air defense systems, 30 anti-submarine missiles and other equipment, weapons and ammunition. In addition, we are allocating 35 million euros for the purchase of radar and demining equipment,” Šimonite said at a press conference on Saturday.
“By the end of the fall, we hope to be able to provide more than 5,000 Lithuanian-made drones,” she added.
According to Šimonite, the Lithuanian government has pledged to spend at least a quarter of its GDP on defense and security assistance to Ukraine each year.
“My government will not only ensure but also exceed this plan. I hope that no matter what kind of government we have after the elections in October, it will remain committed to this goal,” she emphasized.
The Prime Minister added that a new package of equipment to help restore Ukraine’s energy sector is also coming. In addition, Lithuania will continue to support Ukraine’s recovery with a focus on the education and healthcare sectors.
“Today, another kindergarten in Borodyanka, which Lithuania helped to restore, has opened and is ready to welcome Ukrainian children. In response to President Zelenskyy’s request, we will also help three hospitals in Zhytomyr, Dnipro and Lviv regions,” Šimonite said.

Lithuanian Center for Restoration of Museum Valuables will help restore 100 paintings by Primachenko – Ministry of Culture

The Pranas Gudinas Center for Restoration of Museum Valuables of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art will help restore 100 paintings by Maria Primachenko, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said.

“The center is the main training base for restorers of movable art treasures in Lithuania, particularly paintings and tapestries. Master classes, seminars and lectures related to the preservation and care of museum collections are held here,” the press service of the Ministry of Culture said in a statement following a visit to the Center by acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy Rostislav Karandeev.

The Center’s restorers have already examined and restored more than 50 paintings and 1,000 graphic works from Ukrainian museums, and another 600 works and at least two Ukrainian interns are expected in the near future.

“In addition, in the near future in this center will be restored 100 paintings by Maria Primachenko from the state part of the Museum Fund of Ukraine from the funds of the communal institution ‘Zaporizhzhya Regional Art Museum’ of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Council”, – stated in the message.

As of today, paintings from the Ukrainian Khanenko Museum are being restored, and Lithuanians are also restoring a Ukrainian carpet from Mariupol.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/UkrDiplomatic

Lithuania to ban use of Chinese software in construction of solar and wind power plants

The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy intends to ban the use of Chinese software during the construction of solar and wind power plants with a capacity of more than 100 kW, said the head of the department, Dainius Kreivis.

According to him, no such restrictions are planned for low-capacity power plants installed by residents of the country.

“We are preparing documents so that all equipment, even in private investments, that generates more than 100 kW, cannot use any Chinese software,” Kravis told Ziniu radijas radio station on Thursday, answering the question whether Lithuania should abandon Chinese technology in the country’s power system.

“That is what we plan to do. I think the decisions we will make will solve the problem,” the minister said.

The Energy Minister emphasized that government agencies are already prohibited from installing Chinese-made software.

According to Kravis, despite the growing number of household electricity producers, there is currently no threat of “excessive use” of Chinese equipment at their facilities.

President of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists Vidmantas Janulevicius said at a meeting of the Seimas Committee on Economics in late March that Chinese software is often used in the construction of renewable energy facilities both in Lithuania and in the rest of Europe. He suggested looking for funds to replace Chinese technology at existing power plants with Western software.

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Finnish company has developed concept for deep disposal of radioactive waste for nuclear power plant in Lithuania

Finnish company Posiva Solutions has developed a concept for the construction of a deep disposal facility for the decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) in Lithuania, the plant said in a statement.

According to INPP Director General Linas Baužys, quoted in the statement, this is an important stage in the construction of  deep burial facility.

“This month we started public consultations with municipalities. From now on, as we continue them, we will have an idea of how the future radioactive waste burial ground will physically look like and what specific measures will be taken to ensure its safety,” Baužis said.

The burial site will be several hundred meters deep. It will be an engineering structure designed to safely isolate radioactive waste. It is planned to be operational in 2068 and its location will be approved by 2047. The concept will be adjusted depending on the progress of the project development.

INPP signed a contract with a Finnish company for the amount of 262 thousand euros in January 2022. According to calculations made at that time, only the construction of of the burial ground will cost 1 billion euros, its use – another 900 million euros.

As reported, INPP was shut down on December 31, 2009, the term of work to stop its operation – until 2038. Lithuania pledged to close the plant upon joining the European Union, which co-finances these works.

The plant is equipped with the world’s most powerful Russian RBMK reactors, built in the 1980s. Work on dismantling the RBMKs is expected to start in 2028. INPP will issue separate tenders for this work.

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Lithuanian Economy Minister: Blockade of Lithuanian border by Poles violates EU principle of freedom of movement

The blockade of a road on the Lithuanian-Polish border by farmers on March 1 may violate the European Union principle of free movement of goods and people, Lithuanian Economy and Innovation Minister Aušrine Armonaitė said, LRT writes.

“As far as I understand, the flow of people will not be stopped, but we are still members of the free European Union, where the movement of goods and people should be free. Any impediment to that movement has the potential to disrupt freedom of movement,” the minister said.

She noted that trucks at the border would be directed to additional parking lots for inspection, which could lead to queues.

A nationwide strike of farmers started in Poland on February 9. The main demands of the strikers are to adjust the “green” course of the European Commission, to limit the inflow of Ukrainian agricultural products to the Polish market, as well as to increase the profitability of agricultural production. During the protests, farmers block Ukrainian-Polish border crossings.

Since March 1, Polish farmers have been preparing for two new blockades – at the former Polish-German border crossing in Svec and on the road near the former Lithuanian-Polish border crossing “Kalwaria-Budzisko”. Farmers will check the contents of trucks, especially agricultural goods.

According to Ausris Macijauskas, chairman of the Lithuanian Grain Producers Association, Polish farmers’ suspicions that Ukrainian grain brought from Poland to Lithuania is being returned or processed and re-exported as Lithuanian goods are justified.

Via Baltica is a 970-kilometer section of European route E67 between Tallinn and Warsaw. It provides road links between the Baltic countries. E67 connects Helsinki (Finland) and Prague (Czech Republic).

The Suvalki Gap is a strip of land about 100 kilometers long on the Lithuanian-Polish border, which is wedged between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the west and Belarus in the east.

Maciauskas said earlier that Lithuanian farmers for their part would not contribute to the Polish protest. According to him, the biggest problem of Lithuanian farmers is Russian grain.

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