At the meeting with Mr. Dariusz Jacek Krawiec, President of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN which has AB Mažeikių nafta in its group of companies, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius discussed a possibility of selling out 9.98 % of the refinery shares held by the Government. According to Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, the buy-out proposal to the Polish Government should follow shortly, possibly right after the Christmas.

Bold upfront policy actions and Crisis Management Plan will help Lithuania address challenges under the current rapid deterioration in global economy, as confirmed by Catriona Purfield, the head of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation to Vilnius, during her meeting with Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius. She has also assured the Prime Minister that the IMF doesn’t see any need for Lithuania to borrow from the IMF.

On the assessment of the financial situation and macroeconomic tendencies in the country, the Government approved the amended draft state and municipal budget for 2009 in line with the provisions of the crisis management plan. The budget formation measures will help reduce the state budget deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP. Failure to introduce these measures would have raised the deficit up to 5.76 percent of GDP. This draft budget was developed to tackle the sudden slowdown of national economy, resulting in heavy tensions in the public finance system – the fact that is especially dangerous in the wake of global financial crisis. The draft budget also aims in every possible way at protecting socially vulnerable areas, adhering to the commitments to the workers in the fields of education, ...

The Lithuanian Government has approved draft amendments to taxation laws, which have been tabled along with state and municipal budget proposals for 2009. The package includes legal amendments related to the measures provided for in the Crisis Management Plan. Due to risk realisation and deteriorating macroeconomic environment, the initial budget revenue was projected to come down by LTL 2 billion. The proposed measures are to offset the loss ensuring the stability of public finances.

The new centre-right coalition Government of Lithuania starts with the implementation of a specific measure plan to sustain financial stability. The Government also aims at introducing necessary structural and state governance reforms. Newly appointed Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, a Conservative, is an experienced politician who had already headed the Government eight years ago and introduced reforms that led to economic growth.

Today the European Council is going to focus on energy and climate change. Lithuania seeks to present the other EU member states the exceptional circumstances of Lithuania following the closure of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant and, as a result, the increase in the CO2 emissions. Lithuania also seeks special compensatory mechanism to buffer economic and social problems that can arise in the train of it.

On 10-12 December, new Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius is leaving on his first working visit to Brussels to take part at the European Council where the heads of states and governments intend to focus on energy, climate change, economy reinvigoration, and stability of financial markets and other issues of EU importance. Prime Minister’s agenda also includes meetings with heads and representatives of EU institutions. The Prime Minister will look into the possibilities of raising EU support financial package for Lithuania for 2007-2013 with a special focus on energy projects and important economic sectors.