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She did it! Lithuanian climber Edita Nichols conquers Mount Everest

One and a half months of acclimatization, training, uneventful waiting at the Base Camp, and freezing weather – all for a fleering moment on the world's highest peak. In the early morning of Wednesday, May 22, Edita Uksaitė Nichols finally did it – she reached the top of Mount Everest. Having left the last camp on Wednesday night, Edita's team went on the summit push on the more challenging northern side.

"I did it, I did it, I did it!" Edita called and told her partner right after safely descending to Camp 3. "It was so technical and so scary, it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life."

"You know what the best thing about it is?" she asked and, after a moment's pause, confided: "I will never have to do that again!"

According to Edita's blog, the group reached the summit at 8 AM. Due to challenging weather, only four people of the group of ten climbers made it to the top.

Read more...
U.S.- Lithuanian
Leland H. Ruth receives U.S. cooperative community’s
highest honor

American-Lithuanian Leland H. “Lee” Ruth received the U.S. cooperative community’s highest honor on May 8, 2013 when he was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame. The ceremony was held at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. The Cooperative Hall of Fame award was established by the National Cooperative Business Association to honor individuals who have performed outstanding service in advancement of cooperatives as a business model.

His professional career focused on service to agricultural cooperatives, including 33 years with the Agricultural Council of California. His leadership helped establish the Center for Cooperatives at the University of California and the California Center for Cooperative Development. As co-chair of the National Rural Cooperative Development Task Force, he was instrumental in creating the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program a USDA source of funding that now supports the work of 29 Cooperative Development Centers across the country.

Ruth is of Lithuanian heritage, with the family surname originally being Rutkauskas. In 1999 he served as a co-founder of the Auksuciai Foundation. This non-profit organizations' mission is to help small scale Lithuanian farmers succeed. It funds the Auksuciai Farm & Forestry Center near Kursenai, Lithuania. The Center conducts a year long program of research on new crops, improvement of existing crops and improved farming practices. This year marks the 14th year of service with a Farmers’ Field Day set at the farm on May 24, 2013.
Lithuania's real estate market bustling with activity
April brought a visible increase in Lithuania's real estate market activity as property transactions jumped 16% year on year, reports news2biz LITHUANIA.
Apartment trade increased by a solid 35% to a post-crisis monthly record of 2,343 units, according to preliminary figures from the real estate registry operator Registru centras. The Vilnius market went even higher with a 47% jump in April to close to 800 units.

Trade in non-residential building and premises was also up y/y across the country but still below record months in 2012. Trade in land plots intensified by 15% y/y.

Because of the absence of fundamental factors that could signal a general improvement in the financial situation of households (real wages still not growing, unemployment still in low teens), market analysts believe that the jump in activity is related to real estate being seen as a good investment alternative to low interest rate bank deposits.

Such an interest is also backed by the current ultra-low interest rates on mortgage loans, and banks are reporting a rising mortgage loan demand. For instance, Danske Bank, a relatively small player on the home loan market, said the number of mortgage loans it concluded during Q1 2013 almost trebled y/y to around LTL 33m.

"I won't go into details about why we found no common language with the first buyer. Now we have signed a head of terms with another potential buyer who is already known for its investments in Vilnius. In a few months we may have a deal," says Richard Schrijer, head of Evita's owner Respektas, to news2biz.

Evita has 4,500 sq.m of commercial space on Savanoriu Avenue, a busy commercial street leading to the Kaunas exit road. "It is fully leased out to two tenants – Norwegian Storebrand and local Teo telecom. The residential units are not covered by the potential sale. Of these we have 10 still vacant and around 50 sold," says Schrijer.

Although he would not name the new potential buyer, Schrijer says it is quite optimistic about investment leads that it sees in Vilnius. "These investors are not in the least as gloomy as some of the local players. They say, go to Southern Europe, see and compare."

Evita's original developer was Dutch-owned MEI Baltija (see no 300 page 7). "The present owners of Evita used to be minority shareholders in MEI Baltija. For them it was their first project in Lithuania and they are likely not to call it a success story," Schrijer notes.

The Norwegian company that was interested in Evita is Auris LT, a commercial real estate company owned by Odd Rune Austgulen, a Norwegian investor. Evita could have been Auris LT's second project after a new office centre in one of Vilnius' residential areas that was acquired more than a year ago. Austgulen has also co-invested in two logistics properties in Vilnius and Riga.
US-based IT group to hire up to 1,000 in Vilnius

CSC Baltic, the Lithuanian arm of US Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) global IT services player, plans to boost its Vilnius-based office with hundreds of new staff, reported news2biz LITHUANIA.
Five years in business, the Vilnius unit specialises in providing 24/7 IT infrastructure support for mostly finance, logistics and travel sector customers located in the Nordics but also other European countries and even much further, in the US and Asia. It now employs 290 staff, of which around 50 have been added in recent months.
During the next few years these two figures will dwarf as CSC Baltic plans to grow to 1,000 jobs. The growth will be part of CSC's new USD 1bn, 12-18 month cost cutting campaign announced by the company's new CEO in mid-2012. The New York-listed group was hit with a USD 4.2bn loss last year. Cost cutting, among other things, will mean more jobs for the relatively cheap Vilnius office.
At a press conference in Vilnius to mark the 5-year anniversary and announce the expansion plan, John Walsh, CSC's Denmark-based VP and head for Northern Europe, commended Lithuania's ability to supply multi-language staff who provide IT support on using various business management and security systems.
Belarus seeks bigger say in Klaipeda Port, writes news2biz LITHUANIA.
Lithuania's southern neighbour Belarus plans not only to increase the already significant volume of cargo exported through Klaipeda but have a bigger say in the port's business, writes news2biz LITHUANIA.

At the recent Lithuania-Belarus business forum in Lithuania's only port city, the Belarus side announced that the state-owned Belaruskalij fertilizer producer is acquiring for USD 30m a 30% stake in Biriu kroviniu terminalas, a fertilizer reloading terminal, controlled by a Klaipeda transport investor.

The Lithuanian company has not confirmed the deal but commented that talks are indeed underway.

Belaruskalij is a global-scale player in potash mineral fertilizers and the biggest producer in the former Soviet Union. Klaipeda has long competed with Latvia's Ventspils for the status of the fertilizer giant's preferred export port. Belarus' government plans selling a 10-15% stake in Belaruskalij to an investor. Reportedly, potential suitors from China, India, Europe and the Arab world are interested in the deal.

The Belarus side is also interested in acquiring Bega, another bulk and liquid fertilizer reloading specialist in Klaipeda with a 6m tonne annual capacity that is planned to rise to 10m tonnes by 2020. At the end of last year the company constructed an LTL 80m agriculture product terminal.
Over the past three years the share of EU citizens who want to be self-employed
has fallen from
45% to 37%

Brussels, Belgium — Over the past three years the share of European Union (EU) citizens who want to be self-employed has fallen from 45% to 37%, reports European Commission (EC). This year EC highlighted the need for more entrepreneurs in order to return the EU to economic growth and higher levels of employment.

However, historical, cultural and economic background of diverse European countries has significant effects on attitudes towards entrepreneurs in European countries. Lack of in-depth knowledge might determine future revival of entrepreneurship in Europe, reveals the study by Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) today presented in Brussels.

“It is a positive trend in Europe to turn to entrepreneurs and acknowledge their role in creating economic growth. Yet, without knowing the mistakes of the past, there is no future. This is especially important then considering New Member States, such as Lithuania or Bulgaria, which still carry a burden of post-communist past. Therefore, only full understanding of entrepreneurial situation per country can guarantee that necessary measures will be taken and they actually will give wanted results”, says Zilvinas Silenas, President of LFMI.

In line with the acknowledged need to revive entrepreneurial spirit of Europe, LFMI conducted an international in-depth study in two New EU Member States, Lithuania and Bulgaria, and for comparative reasons in two non-EU countries – Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. The aim of the current study was to determine attitudes towards entrepreneurs in countries sharing the same post-communist past and underlying historical, cultural and economic reasons of such attitudes.

How to get rid of the “exploiter” image of the entrepreneurs?

Read more...

Click HERE to read previous news articles >

Thu, 23rd May, 2013 - Posted by admin | Comments (0)

EXPLORING EUROPE
Join me on my journey to 26 European countries!

TOUR GUIDE: Aage Myhre, VilNews editor-in-chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

Early morning at Costa Blanca, Spain's White Mediterranean coast.

Text & photos: Aage Myhre, VilNews editor-in-chief

The more I travel around the world the more I realize that I am European. Although I have good, close friends and have experienced extraordinary things in all corners of the world. Maybe my mind is not sufficiently exotic. That's ok. I have grown older now. Driving a car is the best way to experience Europe. Lithuania's border crossings to Latvia and Poland is no problem anymore. Within a day's drive you can reach most of the northern and central European countries. One more day and you can already stand and look out over the warm, slow waves of the Mediterranean Sea...

Over the next few weeks VilNews will present some glimpses of Europe ... A Europe that is now so close to everyone... The Iron Curtain is gone, forever

1	$Description: C:\Users\Aage\Pictures\Adobe\Digital Camera Photos\2009-09-26-1929-08\IMG_3213.JPG$	Exploring Europe For me, travelling means to explore, see more while there is still time. Not the destination alone, also the road there. I feel I become a happier person with such rich experiences. A free spirit in motion, new personal growth, and new experiences. To meet new, interesting people. Learn more. Understand more. That is for me the importance of travelling.
2		Switzerland & Italy Coming to Italy via Switzerland is relieving, good, warm. It smells of pine, sea and beach. Food and food culture is an integral part of the experience. Having moved all here south means freedom. The basic idea behind it to get away, have a holiday. The moving down here also means that we have seen many new places, new things. On our long journey...
3		Along the Riviera We start the tour in Italy, in the beautiful coastal town of Portovenere. We enjoy a wonderful filletto with a rich, deep red Barbera on a board-walk restaurant. The next day the tour starts, along the Italian Riviera and the Cote d'Azur. We travel to France's best preserved medieval town.
4		From Strasbourg to London I had long planned a drive from Strasbourg to England. So here I sit again. Browsing. I find that the very symbol of London, wax queen Marie Tussaud (1761-1850) was born under the name Anna Maria Grosholtz here in Strasbourg. I follow in her footsteps to London where…
5		Austria & Germany At the turn of the 20th century, Vienna, capital of the vast but ailing Austro-Hungarian Empire, reflected on its past with pride and its future with uncertainty. The empire had nurtured Beethoven, Brahms, and Strauss. The city was home to Sigmund Freud, and considered a world leader...
6		Finland & Scandinavia Scandinavia is fantastic in the summer as well as in the winter. Even though winter is a time when most of the peninsula is still covered in snow and ice, you will be surprised at how mild the temperatures actually are. In March, the sun is racing back and the days are already…
7		En route Warsaw - Budapest A journey through the former Warsaw Pact countries. It hurts to come back to Eastern Europe after experiencing Scandinavia. Indeed, these countries have undergone great develop-meant since the Iron Curtain fell in 1990, but it is also terribly hard to think of…
8		Moscow and further east It is January 1992. I am unexpectedly invited on a trip to the city of Orenburg on the border of Siberia. Along with two Britons whom I the last six months have helped to buy goods from Russia via Lithuania. Metals, timber and other things. As a Norwegian I cannot get a visa here..
9		The Baltic Hanseatic route When I came to Vilnius for the first time it surprised me that I here found a city first and foremost influenced by Italy and other Mediterranean cultures, very different from the other two Baltic capitals, Riga and Tallinn, both built in accordance with German Hanseatic style.
10		Istanbul - Turkey I am in Conrad Hotel in Istanbul. The view from the terrace outside my hotel room is amazing. I look down at the beautiful city I've learned to like so much. The boats on the Bosporus Strait are crossing frantically back and forth between the Asian and the European side.

1 of 10: Exploring Europe
I love old towns. No matter how good a new suburb is. I, and many with me, prefer the old towns. It has something to do with the atmosphere. Details, ornaments. Human life. Sound and smell. Warmth. Joy.

Europe is the 'old town' for the entire world!

I think it primarily is about culture and history. All that Europe is so infinitely rich on. It is something about that feeling. The idea and the knowledge of the Roman Empire every time I'm in Rome. Recognition every time I visit a museum or gallery and see the many art treasures I feel is a part of my European self.

It is more to Europe I never get tired of. For example, being able to walk, touch, feel, smell. Being a tourist here is like walking on the world stage as it has provided the basis for so much over thousands of years.

Fortunately, European leaders long ago realized that the human being is more important than cars. Take Strøget in Copenhagen, bike paths in Holland and promenades along pretty much all The Mediterranean sea-coast as good examples of this.

Europe means walking around on cobbled streets.
Between historic buildings. See. Listen. Experience. Feel. Smell.
Like here in Florence, Italy.

Read more, see more pictures…

Category : Featured black / Front page

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Mon, 20th May, 2013 - Posted by admin | Comments (1)

Lithuania’s 3 nightmares

By Kestutis Eidukonis, VilNews CEO

At the beginning of this month, I had the great privilege of representing the PLB (World Lithuanian Community) in its bi-annual meeting with members of the Seimas (Parliament). This joint commission meets twice a year and consists of ten members elected by the World Lithuanian Community and ten members of the Seimas, one from each party. The commission has two co-chairs one from the PLB and one from the Seimas. The co-chair from the PLB was Dr. Jonas Prunskis and the co-chair from the Seimas was Ona Valiukevičiūte.

The areas of debate and concern for the commission were:

An American growing
up in SIBERIA

NEW BOOK: "How I Became A Comrade:
An American Growing Up In Siberian Exile" by John E. Armonas
as told to Algis Ruksenas, is NOW AVAILABLE thru Amazon.com.

An American child deported with his mother to Siberia, torn from her when she is given additional punishment at hard labor in the notorious GULAG, is raised as a Soviet in order to survive.

John Armonas was a U.S. citizen, but had been left behind when his American-born father and five-year old sister, Donna, were urged to leave Lithuania back for the United States, after the Soviets first occupied Lithuania in 1940. His mother Barbara, a native Lithuanian, was assured by American officials she could soon follow with nine-month old John, as soon as her immigration papers were expedited. Instead, they ended up in Siberia...

The strange phenomenon of Eurovision

Mon, 20th May, 2013 - Posted by admin | Comments (0)

By Saulene Valskyte

Eurovision for Lithuanians is like one more religion after basketball. Everybody has their opinion on everything: how the artist should look, how they should move on the stage, what the song should be, how it should be performed. The strangest thing is that with such a big group of experts, somehow we pick the wrong person every year.

Every year lots and lots of groups and single artists fills out applications to participate in the Eurovision song competition. Every year thousands of people are watching the National Finals to vote for the best song and finally win. And every year right after the results of the National Final the weirdness begins.

Aage Myhre is
leaving Lithuania

Architect Aage Myhre, VilNews editor-in-chief,
interviewed by Ramunas Kontrimas, news2biz
www.news2biz.com
ramunas@news2biz.com

Some of architect Aage Myhre’s projects in Lithuania
over the last 20 years.

Aage Myhre, 60, is the Norwegian architect, journalist, publisher whose community building skills have made him a small expat phenomenon in Vilnius. He is about to return to his home country after twenty two years in Vilnius, taking along his Lithuanian spouse and two daughters, but leaving his other object of admiration, Vilnius' Old Town, behind.

news2biz met Aage to ask him to reflect on his Lithuanian stay that lasted much long than he expected.

OPINIONS

Have your say. Send to:
editor@VilNews.com

VilNews must be one of the absolutely better magazines in Europe, well written and with excellent photos. Be proud!
Ivar Enoksen, Norway

Ivar Enoksen has many years experience of working in the Norwegian press, television and movie industry. He got the Norwegian Amanda Award for the series manuscript ‘Nattseilere’ (Night sailors). Enoksen has done extensive historical research related to the Arctic areas. He is represented with fiction in several anthologies, and has in recent years also worked as a teacher of film dramaturgy. In 2007 Enoksen published the book 'Tusen glemte menn og historien om den virkelige James Bond' ' (Thousand forgotten men and the story of the real James Bond).
Two new
VilNews editors!
We are pleased to announce that VilNews has got two new skilled Associate Editors, Dalia Cidzikaite and Daiva Repečkaitė. We can say with certainty that they are going to mean a lot for our worldwide, online e-publication and the accompanying wonderful network of global readers with Lithuania in their hearts. Please welcome them! See also our Section 2 and Section 3.
__________________________

Eugene Rangayah
Welcome! Looking forward to some great editorials!

Vytenis Folkmanas
welcome !!!

Dalia Cidzikaite
Thank you! We will do our best!

Algis Ruksenas
Sveikinu nuosirdziai ir linkiu visakeriopos sekmes!

Ingrida Bublys
Silciausi sveikinimai!

Teresa Boguta
sveikinimai Dalia ! Sekmes ir kurybingu metu!

Ben Kordell
Sveikinu Dalia. Viskas bus okee dokee.

Kestutis Stanciauskas
Sveikinu!!!

Dalia Cidzikaite
Ačiū visiems už sveikinimus.
Healing the heart and soul of Lithuania
By Ida Hardy, Texas, USA

Lithuania is my mother’s country. She escaped with her mother and sisters as a young child and at one point in her life she wanted to return. It seemed to me that she heard the whispers from the wind in the forests and they were calling her home. My mother taught us a little about the folk tales and the music. She taught us to meditate and a little bit about yoga and I wanted to learn more about her childhood home. But the Soviets were still reigning and it was impossible for us to go. Later, as we cried on the phone on that day in 1991 I asked her if she would like to return and she said, “You can never go back. Things are changed so much.”

Her message was about more than the structure of her home and the murder of her father. She was really talking about the broken spirits of all the people who were victims, those who were aggressors, and those who were both. There is no going back. No one can undo the evil that has taken place anywhere on the planet throughout time.
is.

Read more...
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Gordon Ross So... The Soviets are gone.... Why are you still in Texas?

Aage Myhre Ida Hardy, I think
Gordon Ross (from Scotland but already half Lithuanian), has a good point

Ida Hardy I think it's a good question...not sure I have a good answer.

Virginia Shimkute warmer in Texas is a good reason !

Ida Hardy One year I should go in July or August when it is too warm here.

Felicia Dalia Prekeris Brown I also escaped from the Soviets arriving in Lithuania (for the second time) in 1944, and I also dreamt of forests and streams from my childhood. Luckily, I've gone back over and over since we regained independence: mostly because nowhere can I get the real CEPELINAI except in Lithuania! Something about the potatoes from that black soil!

Ida Hardy Felicia Dalia Prekeris Brown have you written your story? I want to know what your life was like and what happened to you - and if you have a nice recipe for cepelinai?

Boris Bakunas @Gordon Ross. I have a good answer. Because in the free world, people have the right to live where they want. Let us remember that our wishes are not commands that others must obey.

Felicia Dalia Prekeris Brown Ida - I actually have written down the story of our family's existence under Soviets and Nazis (1939-1945), our harrowing escape from Lithuania with the Soviets at our heels, life in the DP camps... It's at the publisher's now and should be coming out this summer: called "God, Give Us Wings." I see that many of us in sunset years are setting down the history we lived before it all fades into oblivion.

Boris Bakunas @Felicia Dalia Prekeris Brown. Yes, we are. It's so important for our children and children to know what our families endured. It can be a source of strength in times of hardship. Whenever something unfortunate happens to me, I automatically say, "This is nothing compared to WWII."

Ida Hardy I will read it. I think it was too difficult to talk about and my mother didn't give too many details. She was maybe 9 when they fled. So much suffering and for so long. I don't blame her for avoiding the subject.

Boris Bakunas My family rarely spoke about the events of World War II as well. It took a lot of research to find out even the little I have learned. Some memories are so painful that people want to bury them. I believe, however, that we are better off if we face time. In time, they cease to have a hold on us. How else can we become free?

Bernard Terway We can go back a lot further than WW2 to find Lithuanians who left but were still afraid to talk about where they came from. To this day, I have no idea where my grandparents came from n Lithuania. They wold not talk about it for fear of being sent back and forced into the Russian army, I suspect.

Ida Hardy Yes, facing your fears is important but I think so many people need help in order to do it in a productive way so that they move through the difficulty instead if getting caught up in the resentment, anger, fear and stopping there. Long-held and tightly-held anger is a burden.

Felicia Dalia Prekeris Brown Ah those difficult memories! I was lucky: I TAPED my parents reminiscing about the years from 39 to 45, and they also wrote down some things to give me a good timeline. I was 7 in 1945 and remembered events but not the sequence. I also had many documents and letters: thank God my father had the soul of an archivist! Thus I had a stack of materials to guide me.

Ida Hardy And thank God your father lived to tell! God bless you for doing the work.
Boris went to Siauliai to see
his grandmother’s sister
before she died.

Can good come
from selfishness?
By Boris Vytautas Bakunas I want to tell you a true story. During a trip to Lithuania a few years ago, I drove to the city of Siauliai to see my grandmother’s sister before she died. At 97 she was the oldest surviving member of my family.

My reason for visiting her was not only selfish, but it was based on an illusion…

Read more...
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Rimgaudas Vidziunas great story...lesson learned 'do for others as you would have them do to you'. Now I learned that somewhere. Oh Yes, the 'Ten Commandments'
__________________________

Irena Kenneley
Synchronicity/meaningful coincidence--how awesome is the fact that you were able to take a step back, connect the dots so that they include your inner and outer world, surroundings, emotional state, and motivations to come full circle and realize the deep implications of your visit and its effects on yourself and those around you! If it's one thing I've learned over the years is that taking care of oneself is not selfish! I admire your writing style! Great story....
__________________________

Eugene Rangayah Heartfelt Boris! I don't even have the words! Family and connections are so important to maintain!
__________________________

Sandra Abramovich A wonderful story!
__________________________

Vijole Arbas death is something like taking a long trip

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Event calendar for Lithuania

2013 May

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NEWS

EXPLORING EUROPE Join me on my journey to 26 European countries!