Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – With Latvian national airline airBaltic facing financial difficulties and cutting routes, Lithuanian Transport Minister Juras Taminskas says the company’s bankruptcy would not be a tragedy for Lithuania.

“It would not be a tragedy if airBaltic were no longer around. Yes, it would hurt in the short term. Yes, we would experience inconvenience and discomfort, but we would recover and move forward,” the minister said in a podcast on the news website 15min.lt this Friday.

Taminskas believes that the Latvian Government will do everything it can to prevent airBaltic from going bankrupt as it generates around 2 percent of Latvia’s gross domestic product (GDP), meaning its bankruptcy would be a blow to the country’s economy.

At the same time, the minister stressed that if the company went bust, air links between Lithuania and Riga would disappear the following day.

“If airBaltic were gone, Riga Airport would close the next day because Riga Airport is a hub because of airBaltic. Without airBaltic, there is no Riga. That’s it,” he said.

Taminskas also said that flights in Lithuania should be promoted not only from Vilnius but also from Kaunas and Palanga airports.

The minister pointed out that Irish low-cost airline Ryanair accounts for 44 percent of the Lithuanian airport market, Hungarian airline Wizz Air for 22 percent and airBaltic for 17 percent.

Latvian media reported that airBaltic has begun restructuring its financial obligations, known as a Chapter 11 procedure under US law. As of 14 September, its liabilities totalled EUR 503.3 million, while operating lease obligations stood at EUR 855.6 million,

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – On 24 September in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys met with Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, minister of foreign affairs, international cooperation, and Francophonie for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

During the meeting, a joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was signed, reports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The establishment of diplomatic relations opens a new stage in relations between Lithuania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and provides the basis for closer political dialogue, cooperation in international organisations and the development of economic relations,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Budrys.

The ministers discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation. Lithuania sees potential to expand economic ties, especially in the areas of digitalisation and green solutions. 

Minister Budrys expressed Lithuania's readiness to share experience in the areas of digital public services, cybersecurity, transparent public administration, skills development and economic empowerment of young people and women.

The meeting also discussed international cooperation and Russia’s war against Ukraine. Minister Budrys called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to continue supporting United Nations General Assembly resolutions and to contribute to international efforts to end Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – The State Border Guard Service’s (VSAT) operations targeting officers suspected of misconduct are continuing, with another officer detained while off duty in Varėna on Thursday.

The junior specialist from the Kabeliai Border Guard Station of the VSAT Varėna Border Guard Unit was detained by officers from the VSAT Immunity Board together with colleagues from the Pre-Trial Investigation and Criminal Intelligence divisions of the VSAT Pagėgiai Border Guard Unit.

A pre-trial investigation into the unlawful possession of goods taxed by excise duties and abuse of office had previously been launched at the VSAT Pagėgiai Border Guard Unit.

The investigation is organised and led by a prosecutor from the Third Criminal Prosecution Division of the Kaunas Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The detention of the junior specialist from the Kabeliai Border Guard Station is the latest development in the investigation. He has been named as a suspect in connection with abuse of office.
VSAT says combating corruption is the main function of its Immunity Board.

This year, investigations by the Immunity Board have resulted in 11 officers being named as suspects in corruption-related criminal offences

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – During a visit to the United States, Minister of the Economy and Innovation Edvinas Grikšas and Minister of National Defence Robertas Kaunas signed a cooperation agreement with US defence technology company Mach Industries.

According to the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, the agreement provides for cooperation to establish a Mach Industries presence in Lithuania and develop assembly, integration or production capacity of advanced systems and their components.

“The agreement with Mach Industries would enable advanced defence systems to be produced in Lithuania and create more opportunities for our engineers and suppliers. Products manufactured here would strengthen Lithuania’s capabilities and those of NATO’s eastern flank and help Ukraine defend itself,” Grikšas said in a statement.

According to the minister, US direct investment in Lithuania has already reached nearly EUR 2.8 billion, with 72 percent of it going to manufacturing. He said Lithuania was seeking to increase investment in the defence industry as well.

Mach Industries develops advanced unmanned aviation, space and defence systems, as well as the infrastructure needed for their mass production.

According to the ministry, the company has already demonstrated its Viper autonomous vertical take-off and landing platform in Lithuania during an exercise at the Rūdninkai military training area.

As reported by ELTA, President Gitanas Nausėda met with representatives of the US and Lithuanian business communities at a business forum in Miami on Thursday.

During the forum, the president also took part in a discussion on innovation and security in an uncertain world.

The discussion focused on Lithuanian-US defence cooperation, strengthening NATO’s eastern flank, investment by defence companies and opportunities for joint production. Lithuania is also reported to be seeking not only to acquire US defence products but to expand joint production.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – An information system of the Ministry of the Interior has been hit by a cyberattack, and law enforcement authorities have been contacted over the incident.

The EPEKIS system, administered by the Information Technology and Communications Department, was breached on Thursday evening.

The system has not been actively used since 2018 and serves as an archive containing data on foreign nationals who have applied for Lithuanian citizenship, the ministry said in a statement.

Unauthorised access to the system has been blocked. The system was breached and data sets were created, but it has not yet been established whether data were downloaded.

The Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau and the State Data Protection Inspectorate have been contacted over the incident, while the National Cyber Security Centre has been informed.

Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas does not rule out the possibility that an artificial intelligence platform may have been used in the attack.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – Deputy Energy Minister Gabriel Gorbačevski is leaving the Ministry of Energy and will take up the post of deputy minister of National Defence on Monday, 28 September.

“The current geopolitical situation requires particular attention to the protection and resilience of energy infrastructure. I believe Gabriel’s experience and knowledge in the energy sector will be valuable at the Ministry of National Defence in strengthening the security of our strategic infrastructure,” Energy Minister Lukas Savickas said in a statement.

According to the Ministry of Energy, Gorbačevski had served as deputy minister since 2025.
In this role, he focused primarily on energy security, including oil market issues, strategic infrastructure, nuclear energy and emergency preparedness.

Until a new deputy minister is appointed, the areas overseen by Gorbačevski will temporarily be shared among the ministry’s group heads and members of the minister’s political team.

The new deputy minister of energy is expected to be announced in the near future.

Karolis Aleksa and Bronius Bieliauskas currently serve as deputy ministers at the Ministry of National Defence.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – The Bank of Lithuania has published the balance sheet and interest data of the monetary financial institutions (MFI) for August 2026, which show that Lithuanian resident (household) deposits decreased by €119.4 million, or 0.4%, over the month, while interest rates on new deposits went up by 0.35 p. p.; corporate (non-financial corporation) deposits increased by €176.0 million, or 1.5%, over the month, and interest rates on new corporate deposits went up by 0.01 p.p.; loans to Lithuanian residents granted by credit institutions grew by €243.3 million, or 1.2%, while interest rates on new loans increased by 0.12 p. p.; loans for consumption granted to Lithuanian residents grew by 2.6%, over the month, while interest rates on new loans for consumption went up by 0.13 p.p.; loans to Lithuanian corporations expanded by €174.0 million, or 1.1%, whereas interest rates on new loans went up by 0.19 p.p..

Deposits of Lithuanian residents with credit institutions declined by €142.9 million, or 0.3%, over the month (their annual growth rate was 12.1%). Household deposits contracted by €119.4 million, or 0.4%, while non-financial corporation deposits went up by €176.0 million, or 1.5% (their annual growth rates stood at 15.7% and 7.8% respectively). At the end of the month, household and non-financial corporation deposits amounted to €30.6 billion and €11.7 billion respectively. Deposits of the general government and financial sector contracted by €191.6 million and €8.0 million respectively in August 2026. At the end of the month, these deposits amounted to €6.5 billion and €1.3 billion respectively, the Bank of Lithuania reports.

Overnight deposits of Lithuanian households held with credit institutions decreased by €147.6 million, or 0.7%, month on month, while those of non-financial corporations rose by €181.2 million, or 1.9%. At the end of the month, the outstanding amounts of overnight deposits of these sectors stood at €22.3 billion and €9.7 billion respectively. Household deposits with agreed maturity held with credit institutions grew by €24.0 million, or 0.3%, over the month, while those of non-financial corporations declined by €2.3 million, or 0.1%. At the end of August 2026, the outstanding amounts of these deposits stood at €8.0 billion and €1.9 billion respectively.

Loans granted by credit institutions to Lithuanian residents increased by €420.7 million, or 1.1%, month on month (their annual growth rate stood at 12.8%). Loans to Lithuanian households and non-financial corporations increased by €243.3 million and €174.0 million respectively, or 1.2% and 1.1% (their annual growth rates stood at 14.2% and 16.7% respectively). Loans to the general government sector grew by €15.2 million, whereas those to the financial sector declined by €11.6 million. At the end of August 2026, loans to these sectors amounted to €20.1 billion, €15.8 billion, €469.6 million and €1.1 billion respectively.

Loans for house purchase and consumption granted by credit institutions to Lithuanian households increased by €196.0 million and €56.7 million, or 1.2 and 2.6% respectively, month on month, and loans for other purposes declined by €9.4 million, or 0.7%. At the end of August 2026, the outstanding amounts of those loans stood at €16.5 billion, €2.2 billion and €1.4 billion respectively, while annual growth rates stood at 14.1%, 24.7% and 2.1%.

Interest rates on new loans granted to households by credit institutions went up by 0.12 percentage points to 6.05%. Interest rates on loans for house purchase, consumption and other purposes increased by 0.06, 0.13 and 0.25 p. p. respectively. In August 2026, interest rates on these loans comprised 4.16%, 8.49 and 6.92% respectively.

Interest rates on new household deposits with agreed maturity held with credit institutions increased by 0.35 percentage points month on month to 2.57%. Interest rates on deposits with agreed maturity of up to 1 month, 6 months to 1 year and 1 to 2 years went up by 1.23, 0.21 and 0.19 percentage points respectively, while those on deposits with agreed maturity from 1 to 6 months and from 2 years onwards went down by 0.01 and 0.03 percentage points respectively. Interest rates on these deposits comprised 2.83%, 2.82%, 3.51%, 1.80% and 3.31% respectively in August 2026.

Interest rates on new loans to non-financial corporations went up by 0.19 percentage points month on month to 5.01%. Interest rates on new loans up to €1 million decreased by 0.18 percentage points and those on new loans over €1 million rose by 0.25 percentage points. In August 2026, interest rates on those loans stood at 4.85% and 5.05% respectively.

Interest rates on new non-financial corporation deposits with agreed maturity rose by 0.01 percentage points month on month to 2.13%. Interest rates on deposits with agreed maturity of up to 1 year increased by 0.01 p.p. and those with agreed maturity from 1 year decreased by 0.21 p.p. In August 2026, interest rates on these deposits stood at 2.13% and 3.14% respectively.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – On 25 September, a representative of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Lithuania, who had been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, was presented with a diplomatic note strongly condemning Russia’s continued large-scale attacks against Ukraine, its civilian population and civilian infrastructure, reports the Foreign Ministry.

The document notes that even during the United Nations General Assembly High-level Week in New York, where world leaders are discussing the primacy of international law and opportunities for peace, and the Russian foreign minister is declaring Russia’s readiness for peace talks, Russia’s actions show the opposite. Its forces continue to carry out brutal attacks against Ukraine and its civilian population.

The note states that on 23–24 September, Russian forces attacked Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine with missiles and drones. Two civilians were killed and eight wounded in Kyiv. Fourteen people were killed and more than four dozen injured in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. Residential homes, health facilities, energy and logistics infrastructure were also affected. In Odessa, the hospital, school, residential buildings and other civilian objects were damaged. The note also draws attention to the fact that the use of drones by Russia poses a risk not only to the population of Ukraine, but also to the population of neighbouring countries. On the night of 24 September, as Russia carried out mass attacks on the southern regions of Ukraine, at least a few Russian drones violated the airspace of Romania and Moldova.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasises that despite calls from the international community, Russia’s actions do not show any real readiness for peace. On the contrary, attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure continue, while civilians continue to pay the highest price in the war of Russia’s aggression.

Lithuania firmly demands that Russia immediately cease its military aggression against Ukraine, cease its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, withdraw its military forces from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine and compensate for the damage caused to Ukraine.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – Karolis Tvaskus, head of the Asset Management Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, has been appointed interim head of the National Paying Agency (NMA).

Ministerial adviser Justas Jaskonis confirmed to ELTA on Friday that Tvaskus will take up the position on an interim basis next week.

The interim head is being appointed after NMA Director Fortunatas Dirginčius, who is a witness in a law enforcement investigation, was temporarily suspended from his duties.

The agriculture minister has decided to launch an investigation into possible misconduct by the NMA director.

Deputy Director Tomas Orlickas has been named as a suspect in a law enforcement investigation into suspected abuse of office and has already asked to step down.

As reported by ELTA, officers from the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) carried out searches at the NMA last week.

The law enforcement investigation concerns suspicions that civil servants may have deliberately failed to perform their duties, thereby causing significant financial and non-financial damage to the financial interests of Lithuania and the European Union.

Vilnius, September 25 (ELTA) – On Friday, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vidmantas Verbickas discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of human relations and labour migration with the secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippines, Hans Leo J. Cacdac, who is visiting Vilnius, reports the Foreign Ministry.

The deputy minister welcomed the growing contribution of Filipino specialists and employees to the Lithuanian economy. He stressed the importance of ensuring transparent, orderly and mutually beneficial labour mobility, while safeguarding both the rights and well-being of migrant workers and the legitimate interests of employers.

Verbickas also emphasized the knowledge of the Lithuanian language as an important condition for successful integration into the labour market and society.

Both sides welcomed the deepening inter-institutional cooperation. An important step in this direction was the signing, earlier the same day in Vilnius, of a Joint Communiqué on Migrant Workers between the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania and the Department of Migrant Workers of the Republic of the Philippines.

As of 1 September 2026, a total of 4,826 Filipino nationals were employed in the Republic of Lithuania. Most of them are in positions requiring higher qualifications in the Klaipėda region.