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Lithuania also swapped its NPP for full membership but does not regret it Arūnas Vinčiūnas has been Lithuania’s Ambassador to Bulgaria since October 2008. He was born on 8 June, 1967, district of Varėna, Lithuania. He graduated from Vilnius University, Faculty of Economics. Then he specialised in Baltic Economic Management Training Programme, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, and Relaciones internacionales, Escuela Diplomatica, Madrid, Spain. He has occupied various posts in the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was in the diplomatic service with the Embassy of Lithuania in Latvia: 1992-93 - Chairman of the Commission of the Baltic Cooperation Council, 1993-96 - First Secretary, Counsellor, and in 2000-2003 in Spain – Counsellor.

He was awarded the Medal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs „For personal merits in developing transatlantic relations and to commemorate invitation to NATO”

Fluent in English, Spanish, Russian, Latvian.

Married, with a daughter.


Your Excellency, in the middle of January, in Lithuania, there were massive anti-government protests similar to those in Latvia and Bulgaria. Do you think this is a kind of trend with the young EU member states from the former Eastern block?

- In fact, this was not a wave of protests, but a demonstration organised in Vilnius that lasted a day. In reality it consisted of two parts: a regular demonstration procession - up to the parliament's building and from there to the government’s. About 5,000 people gathered. There were speeches, everything went as it should and ended without any excesses. Unfortunately, a small group of young people remained in front of the parliament - about 200 – they were aggressive, drunk. It was this group who instigated the riot and clashed with the police. I would even say that in this case the police was too humane. About 20 were arrested and four – wounded. There was also such a case – one of the so-called protesters threw a bottle at parliament that rebounded and hit another protester. However, the protests themselves are not related to the fact that we are a former socialist republic or that we are new members of the EU. The problem is rooted in that that our country, like all others, is undergoing an economic crisis. People don’t like the fact that the situation is deteriorating more and more. That’s why they protest. It is normal and logical.

Do you think that this global economic crisis will affect more severely our small countries which are among the poorest in the EU?

- Yes, it is possible. Our government started its term of office just two months ago – in December. We have had a complete change of power. For eight years the left-wing social democrats had been in power, now the conservatives have been voted in. The government set very seriously to the task of overcoming the crisis. It stated outright: yes, there is a problem, yes, there will be a recession this year. Therefore, the first measure was amendments to some laws, including the tax law. This year’s budget was calculated to take account of a five-percent recession. Cutbacks on expenditure by 20 percent are envisioned for all the public institutions. Some of these anti-crisis measures are really negatively affecting a broad range of people. For example, the levelling of VAT for everyone without exception. Moreover, the tax was raised from 18 to 19 percent. Before that there were different options for the different groups, discounts, possibilities to reduce payments. Now everyone is equal before VAT. This will inevitably have impact on many interests.

How do the Lithuanians evaluate their nearly five years of EU membership?

- Very positively. Every two to three months we conduct sociological surveys on the subject. Always 70 percent answer positively. The change can be seen at first glance, if one goes out into the street. We were once sitting with some Armenian colleagues at a restaurant. They were constantly looking out. I asked them what it was they were looking at. And they said: “We are trying to detect at least one zhigula or moskvitch.” I told them: “Well, you will have to sit here a long, long time in order to see such a car.” This is just one example of what the standard is like of an average Lithuanian. For the last seven years the average economic growth in the country has been eight percent. The Eurofunds were especially helpful for us – in agriculture and transportation. At the end of 2008 the average salary paid in Lithuania was 700 Euro.

How did your relations with Russia develop economically after your accession to the EU?

- We are neighbours with Russia so it is impossible, disadvantageous even, not to cooperate and maintain business relations. It is true that now the Russian market might close because of the rouble’s devaluation. However, Russia is our priority trade partner. From there we import 100 percent of our energy sources – gas, oil. Our export to Russia is also quite good – a 14-15 percent share of our entire export. That must be, if I am not mistaken, about three billion Euro of exports only.

You have mentioned that 100 percent of your gas supplies come from Russia. That is, you too are just as dependent on Moscow as Bulgaria with regard to the blue fuel. But the crisis in January doesn’t seem to have affected you?

- Yes, because the pipeline is different, it does not cross Ukraine. Still, there is no simple answer. Indeed, we did not feel this crisis because we were receiving gas from Russia along a pipeline called Yamal: Russia-Belarus-Poland. A detour pipeline reaches us from Belarus. Thus there was no conflict of any kind in this particular case. Our gas company negotiates directly and in time with Gazprom, contracts the price of gas and the supply conditions, knows in advance at what prices gas will be supplied next year. In this way no preconditions for conflict are created.

But if the gas reaches you via a detour pipeline from Belarus, does it mean that you are dependent on Belarus for supplies? So that one “fine day” the same could happen to you as it did to Bulgaria in January?

- Yes, this is correct. We have already had three such “fine days” but not because of Belarus. Belarus is our closest neighbour to the east. Irrespective of our political differences, we cooperate in the area of economy and maintain good relations in all other spheres. As far as gas is concerned, however, Russia has already stopped it three times for the last 19 years. The first time was when we declared our independence in 1990. Then Moscow entirely stopped supplies but soon began pumping again because in this game we hold the same “ace”: the pipeline coming to us from Belarus continues into the Region of Kaliningrad, which, as you know, is Russian territory, but geographically separated from the Russian Federation by us and Poland. So that if they stop the gas for us, they have to stop it for their own people. That is why no interruption can last long. For two to three days, not longer. As a whole, however, the problem of dependence on Russian gas remains. I believe that there is a solution, not a fast one indeed, but realistic. First, a common energy market should be urgently created in the EU, so that, if necessary, we could buy gas, for example from Germany, Austria. Obviously, not only the technical connections between pipelines are needed, but also clear conditions and opportunities to buy gas from one or other company in an emergency. In 2006 the European Commission disseminated a proposal appealing for the establishment of a common energy market. Unfortunately, Bulgaria as well as some other countries rejected the initiative. I hope that after what happened in January Bulgaria will change its position.

You are the first ambassador in the history of the diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Lithuania. How do you feel in this role?

- This is a fact; I am the first Ambassador residing in Sofia, although the diplomatic relations between our countries were established 85 years ago. However, at that time embassies were not envisioned because in our conflict with Poland over the Vilnius Region Bulgaria sided with Poland. Certainly it is always complicated to be the first one. I do not mean to say I am afraid of responsibility but there is a degree of moral and mental pressure. My first tasks here were to find an office and have it furnished so that it could begin operating normally. On the whole, my task as an ambassador is to bring Lithuania "closer" to the Bulgarians. Although our tourists know your country very well – since Soviet time to this day - in Bulgaria much less is known about Lithuania. It is often mistaken for Latvia – I encounter this misapprehension everywhere. Now, at the end of February, we are opening an exposition, entitled “War after the War”, on the period 1944-1953. In Lithuania a partisan war was waged against the Soviet power for nine more years after the end of the war. In addition, I am striving to find in the history of our relations such “treasures” about which little is known. For example, Grigoriy Tsamblak is a famous name in Bulgaria but no one knows that he lived for some years in Lithuania. Or that the much respected in Bulgaria Vladislav Varnenchik – although a Polish king, was of Lithuanian origin on the paternal and maternal lines. His father, Yagailo, was son of the great Lithuanian Kniaz Algirdas. Thus there are many common moments in the histories of our countries. Futhermore, we are beginning to collect information on Lithuanians who fought in the Russo-Turkish War, during which three Lithuanian regiments took part in battles in Bulgaria. My personal wish is to find as much information as possible about them. On March 3rd I am planning to attend the celebrations in Pleven where a monument was built to commemorate those Lithuanian regiments.

Obviously in view of culture and history we are much closer than economically?

- This is true. However, the distance between Bulgaria and Lithuania is over 2,000 kilometres. This is an obstacle to a certain extent, for example in trade, which is indeed very limited. I was even surprised to learn that last year the exchange of commodities with Bulgaria had risen by almost 20 percent compared to 2007. The figures are small. The commodity exchange amounts to 55 million Euro. This rise of 20 percent in a year is then unexpectedly high. I think it can be attributed to the fact that Bulgaria has been in the EU for a second year already. Before that its location outside the Common Market created barriers. Now the opening of the market helps to activate these relations. The biggest Lithuanian investor in Bulgaria is the supermarket chain T-market. It has been around for three and a half years, but its share on the Bulgarian market has been expanding for the last two. In 2009 a few more branches will open across the country although the company openly admits that their sales have dropped significantly due to the crisis. Another big Lithuanian investor has recently arrived in Bulgaria. That investor will be building a large trade centre named Acropolis. Before that the location hosted the ruins of a Balkancar plant, here in Sofia. The plot was bought together with the buildings, cleared up, prepared and now the project is almost completed. They are beginning construction work next year. The entire investment amounts to 500 million Euro. There are about ten other Lithuanian companies investing in Bulgaria but they are considerably smaller.

Do you think that the current system of the European Community functions well as a whole? Does the EU have a future?

- Yes. Definitively. This system is a catalyst of our wanting to live better lives. Perhaps some of the system’s rules are not perfect but one cannot live by Soviet rules and want to enjoy what the western democracies and markets have. Although we have not been living by Soviet rules for much longer, the gradual change of the national rules, and the awareness of what and how should be changed, came after our accession to the European Union. Then we realised that unless we change the rules in our life, we would never live in a better way. The EU has a future because the success of the entire group of states lies in the equal conditions for business. I have in mind not only the economical laws, but also the way people act, how the police work, what their code of ethics is. Only thus can we do it together. Yes, conditions are set and we had to choose between decommissioning our NPP or becoming outsiders. This is not about ignoring the national interests, but about the correct evaluation of the future. So we chose to enter that family where, according to our estimates, we would receive many more benefits from our membership than from an operating NPP, but outside the Union. We made our choice and that is it. We are looking ahead.


By Lyudmila Zasheva