Installing a cabinet
After intense negotiations among the "New Policy" coalition partners and President Valdas Adamkus that lasted days (and nights), the 11th post-restoration government was announced this week. On Friday 3 November, the new government presented its programme to the Seimas. The most controversial portfolios were the agricultural and transportation ministers, which were agreed upon only at the last minute. The government is still without a minister for environment.
Here is the government as it stands now:
| Portfolio | New Minister | Party |
|
Prime Minister |
Rolandas Paksas | Liberals |
|
Agriculture Minister |
Kęstutis Kristinaitis |
---- |
|
Culture Minister |
Gintautas Kėvišas |
---- |
|
Economics Minister |
Eugenijus Maldeikis |
Liberals |
|
Education and Science Minister |
Algirdas Monkevičius |
New Alliance |
| Environment Minister | ---- | ---- |
| Finance Minister | Jonas Lionginas | Liberals |
| Foreign Minister | Antanas Valionis | ---- |
| Health Care Minister | Vinsas Janušonis | ---- |
| Interior Minister |
Vytautas Markevičius |
---- |
| Justice Minister | Gintautas Bartkus | ---- |
|
National Defence Minister |
Linas Linkevičius |
---- |
|
Social and Labour Minister |
Vilija Blinkevičiūte |
---- |
|
Transportation Minister |
Gintaras Striaukas | Liberals |
Privatisation reversed?
Investors have been shocked by a report from State Controller Jonas Liaučius on the sale of the Lithuanian Shipping Company (LISCO). On 30 October, Liaučius finished the investigation requested by President Adamkus, and the main point was alarming, claiming that "the contract on the sale of LISCO was improper and damages the interests of the state." The controller also suggested that Prosecutor General Kazys Pėdnyčia should challenge the contract.
It has been proposed that the contract should be annulled, which would bring things back to the pre-privatisation situation. The responses from all interested parties, naturally, have been explicitly negative, but the government, State Property Fund and investors disagree with the report. The press release from the Prime Minister's Office stated that the report is just a poorly argued opinion. It also expressed surprise that there was no explicit verdict and that the suggestion the prosecutor general get involved is a way to avoid responsibility.
Fighting for a mayor
Following some political infighting, Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania, has a mayor. After the controversial radical right-wing politician from the Freedom Union, Vytautas Šustauskas, resigned in order to take a seat in Parliament, a fight broke out over his successor.
After the initial agreement that the deputy mayor from the New Alliance take over was not kept, the situation was close to breaking down, since no single party commanded a majority to make its own candidate the mayor.
Finally, the resolution came this week when Gediminas Budnikas, who is from Šustauskas's party, was appointed to the office after an agreement was signed with previous opponents from the Conservatives. The new mayor explained that this is only a "shared works" programme and not a coalition contract.
Battling over airwaves
Several amendments to the law on public information passed during the last days of the previous Seimas's session could potentially spark the first clash between Lithuanian and European law. The amendments concerned the duration, timing and location of advertisements on TV and aim to harmonise the current laws with EU norms.
The decision was widely protested by Lithuanian TV companies. They greeted President Valdas Adamkus's veto of the amendments with enthusiastism. The President argued that restrictions should not apply to national companies transmitting on Lithuanian territory that are not available to EU citizens.
Now the Seimas has to decide upon the fate of the law. In the meantime, chief negotiator with the EU Vygaudas Ušackas warned of the potential negative consequences of the veto in negotiations, saying that the relevant chapter would be postponed. He also spoke of the dualistic legal situation resulting from Lithuania having signed the "European television without borders" convention that envisages the rules under discussion. He proposed to solve the problem through discussions, in which MPs will pay attention to the interests of society, TV companies and international obligations.
Lithuanian hi-tech
Infobalt 2000 ended on 28 October. Both the public and media lauded the expo as a success. The number of visitors, 80,000, both exceeded expectations and caused certain logistical problems.
This year, the focus was largely on the problems of building up e-commerce and an information society in Lithuania. A declaration was adopted that granted everyone the right to have access to the Internet. The aim is to have every second citizen using the Internet at least once per week within the next four years.
The investors in attendence got much less attention than the main exhibition. Among the most successful was the "e-future" exhibit, where various companies and banks presented their plans for transactions and online shopping in Lithuania.
And in other news...
- GDP was reported to have grown by 2.6 per cent after the third quarter, but Lithuania is still lagging behind its neighbours.
- After a dismal election performance, the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Democratic Party have held talks on a possible merger. The potential leader is Christian Democrat Kazys Bobelis, one of the most popular politicians in Lithuania.
- The heads of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant decided to start exporting electricity themselves. They signed a preliminary agreement with Belarusian company Belenergo and Russian nuclear fuel firm TVEL. The Lithuanian side has agreed to accept nuclear fuel as payments, thus calming fears that Belarus may not make its payments. Lithuania has had trouble collecting dues from Belarus in the past.
- Mažeikių Nafta is expanding its market in the Baltic states, with exports to Latvia and Estonia reported to have increased by ten per cent after the first nine months of 2000, as compared with the previous year.
- The Lithuanian National Drama Theatre marked its 60th anniversary in an unconventional conference that looked more like a reunion of many of its past and present members. The theatre first performed in 1940.
- On 30 October, a direct train between Vilnius and Warsaw was inaugurated. In the past, travellers between the two cities had to go through Belarus. The journey still takes about 11 hours, but the direct route is seen as an easing of bureaucratic procedures with border crossings.
- After winning the World Cup in aerobatics last week, the most famous Lithuanian pilot, Jurgis Kairys, announced that he is going to run for President of Lithuania in 2002.
| Exchange Rates As of 3 November 2000 |
|
| Currency | Currency Lithuanian litas (LTL) |
| 1 US dollar | 4.00 |
| 1 British pound | 5.80 |
| 1 German mark | 1.77 |
| 1 euro | 3.46 |
Inga Pavlovaitė, 3 November 2000
Moving on:
- Archive of Lithuanian news reviews
- Archive of articles on Lithuania
- Browse through the CER eBookstore for electronic books
- Buy English-language books on the Baltic states through CER
- Return to CER front page
Sources:
Lietuvos Rytas
Lietuvos Aidas
Respublika
Baltic News Service (BNS)
Kauno Diena
ELTA
Politika.lt
