News

On 14 May, a bilateral meeting of chairmen of the Lithuanian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission - Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas and Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin – took place in Palanga. During the meeting, Lithuanian-Russian cooperation in the areas of energy, economy and law, the meeting of the Lithuanian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission that is scheduled in September and agreements that are intended to sign, activities of the Lithuanian-Russian business and trust forums and other important issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed.

The Ministers discussed possibilities to cooperate more actively, developing Lithuanian-Russian relations in the areas of transport and energy. Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs V.Ušackas stressed that Lithuania was interested in good and constructive relations with Russia, and invited Russia to take a more active part in the East-West transport corridor project.

Chairmen of the Lithuanian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission V.Ušackas and I.Levitin exchanged notes on the ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Russian Federation on Maritime Traffic in the Curonian Lagoon and the Waterways in the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation and in the Republic of Lithuania. Thus, the ratification is completed and the agreement enters into force.

During the meeting, the Ministers dedicated a lot of attention to the issues of border demarcation and the development of border infrastructure. They discussed ways to improve the cooperation of border regions, to develop business, tourism and people-to-people contacts with the Kaliningrad Region. Minister V.Ušackas suggested organising consultations about possibilities of joint passport check at the cross-border point in Nida.

During the meeting, the Ministers spoke about the preparation for a meeting of the Lithuanian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission this autumn in Lithuania, during which it is intended to solve important issues of bilateral cooperation, including also the problematic ones. During the upcoming meeting of the Commission, it is intended to sign a few agreements: on travelling of border residents of Lithuania and Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, on cooperation in curbing pollution of the Baltic Sea, on cooperation in the areas of standardisation, metrology and conformity assessment. Minister V.Ušackas also suggested signing a bilateral Lithuanian-Russian agreement that would promote the cooperation of economy subjects of both countries in the area of aviation services.

The Ministers agreed to make every endeavour that the economic downturn would affect Lithuanian-Russian economic relations and possibilities of Business structures for successful cooperation as little as possible. It was agreed to organise the Lithuania-Russia business forum along with the meeting of the Commission in autumn. The forum will provide a new impetus for the development of bilateral economic relations. The cooperation in the area of business will be stimulated also by the conference “Development of the Economic Cooperation between Lithuania and Russia and Challenges Facing the Global Financial and Economic Changes”. The conference is being organised in Vilnius in June by Lithuanian and Russian businessmen.

Russia is one of the most important Lithuania’s foreign trade partners. Lithuanian exports to this country increased by 37.8 percent and amounted to 8.9 billion Litas in 2008. Respectively, Lithuanian imports increased by 97.2 percent and reached 21.9 billion Litas.