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Archive for November, 2011

Will the nationalization of Snoras Bank lead to more real estate investments in Lithuania?

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Illustration: See our Section 19.

Real estate experts predict that the nationalization of the Snoras bank might adjust the behaviour of residents and cash flows. Lithuanian depositors' general reaction to the present situation has not been absolutely clear yet. It is likely that a certain amount of funds of the deposits in banks might be directed to tangible fixed assets.

The present turmoil may encourage people to seek alternatives to deposits, the real estate company Akorus Real Estate sales manager Donatas Kojala said. Real estate may be one of the asset classes which may see growth in demand, he added.

Read more:
http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/real_estate/?doc=48958

Category : News

- Posted by - (0) Comment

A Lithuanian twist to
Thanksgiving this year?

Thanksgiving is a way for Lithuanian immigrants to celebrate being in America and to share that celebration with everyone in the nation—from the descendants of the people who arrived here on the Mayflower to a family that arrived here last year.

When families immigrate to the United States, they often keep to the foods of their native countries. They also tend to continue their traditional holidays. The one American event that gets incorporated into the holiday cycle of almost every new arrival is Thanksgiving. It usually includes all the traditional foods—turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, cranberries and popcorn, but often with unusual twists that reflect our original homeland.

Any unusual twists on a Lithuanian-American Thanksgiving?

From THE LITHUANIAN RAT PACK, Arizona, USA.

Category : Food, wine and more / Front page

Far away from home, we need a publication different from the mainstream news

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Congratulations with VilNews! Far away from home, we need a publication different from the mainstream news portals, which are often permeated with negative attitude and serving narrow, short-term interests. Your interest to history and the international dimension of Lithuania has made your previous publications a very engaging reading. I trust VilNews will remain enthusiastic, honest and insightful. Please rest assured that you have a dedicated reader in Africa.
Paulius Kulikauskas, Nairobi, Kenya

Category : About VilNews sidebar / Opinions

Portsmouth owners reassure fans over concerns after Lithuanian bank owned by Russian V. Antonov, was placed in administration

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• Vladimor Antonov also owns UK Portsmouth Football Club
• Antonov's company says decision will not affect Portsmouth


The company run by Portsmouth owner Vladimir Antonov has insisted the club will not be adversely affected by the Lithuanian Central Bank's investigation of Snoras Bankas.
Photograph: Chris Ison/PA Wire/Press Association Images

The company run by Portsmouth owner Vladimir Antonov has insisted the club will not be adversely affected after a Lithuanian bank, of which Antonov is a majority shareholder, was placed in temporary administration.

The Lithuanian Central Bank is reported to be conducting an evaluation of AB Bankas Snoras's financial position, after it was suggested assets of around £250m may not be accounted for.

According to Bloomberg's businessweek.com, the Central Bank governor Vitas Vasiliauskas said more than 1bn litai was the subject of the investigation. However, Antonov's Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) has insisted that what is going on on the continent will not cause any problems at Fratton Park or anywhere else within the company's global sphere of influence.

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/nov/18/portsmouth-reassure-fans-administration-concerns?newsfeed=true

Category : News

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In the interwar period, the situation of the Jews in Lithuania
was one of the best in Eastern Europe

Dear Olga, 

I find your discussion with Donatas very interesting. While I leave to Donatas to answer your other points, there is a couple of side issues that I do not completely agree with. 

I find your Logic 101 and the discussion about the supply and demand not quite accurate. Let me explain why. 

In the part of Russia that used to be Lithuania the resistance to Russification was very strong. So strong that the Tsarist authorities banned the written Lithuanian in 1864 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_press_ban) and exiled many local noble families to Siberia. Those families owned mills and controlled some of the trade - so that was lost. At the same time - the Lithuanian Jews had the so called "Golden age" - conditions for their trade improved, and as the local educated people were not allowed to return to their native country (e.g. the 'father' of modern Lithuanian nation J. Basanavicius was assigned to Bulgaria - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basanavicius), various additional business opportunities arose. It is no secret that Jews accepted Russian language and culture more readily than Lithuanians - and were better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that were there in Imperial Russia. So for Logic 101 - could one say that some of the Jews took economic advantage of the circumstance by accepting the foreign (Russian) regime more readily? So for Logic 102 - where does that put them with respect to the local population - that was Catholic and rabidly anti-Russian? 

In addition to this, I would like to give the following quote from soc.culture.baltics 

"Even in the late 19th - early 20th century, when the Black Hundreds instigated and carried out pogroms throughout the Pale, the old Grand Duchy was far behind the Ukraine and Bessarabia in those, and I haven't ever read of any major pogroms on the territory of today's Rep. of Lithuania (if anyone knowns of one, please let us know). In the interwar period, the situation of the Jews in the Rep. of Lith. was one of the best in Eastern Europe. While probably not completely equal, they did not suffer such humiliating discrimination as, e.g., in Poland after Pilsudski's death (I have heard enough personal recollections of that from a relative of mine who lived in the 1930ies Wilno). There is little reason to talk about a "country with anti-Semitic tradition" in the case of Lithuania. That is, before WWII, when things abruptly changed. " 

As for supply and demand - this applies to a free market. If you own the market - you are in position to set the demand. As simple as that, no?

Tautietis

Category : Opinions

In the interwar period, the situation of the Jews in Lithuania was one of the best in Eastern Europe

- Posted by - (2) Comment

Dear Olga, 

I find your discussion with Donatas very interesting. While I leave to Donatas to answer your other points, there is a couple of side issues that I do not completely agree with. 

I find your Logic 101 and the discussion about the supply and demand not quite accurate. Let me explain why. 

In the part of Russia that used to be Lithuania the resistance to Russification was very strong. So strong that the Tsarist authorities banned the written Lithuanian in 1864 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_press_ban) and exiled many local noble families to Siberia. Those families owned mills and controlled some of the trade - so that was lost. At the same time - the Lithuanian Jews had the so called "Golden age" - conditions for their trade improved, and as the local educated people were not allowed to return to their native country (e.g. the 'father' of modern Lithuanian nation J. Basanavicius was assigned to Bulgaria - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basanavicius), various additional business opportunities arose. It is no secret that Jews accepted Russian language and culture more readily than Lithuanians - and were better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that were there in Imperial Russia. So for Logic 101 - could one say that some of the Jews took economic advantage of the circumstance by accepting the foreign (Russian) regime more readily? So for Logic 102 - where does that put them with respect to the local population - that was Catholic and rabidly anti-Russian? 

In addition to this, I would like to give the following quote from soc.culture.baltics 

"Even in the late 19th - early 20th century, when the Black Hundreds instigated and carried out pogroms throughout the Pale, the old Grand Duchy was far behind the Ukraine and Bessarabia in those, and I haven't ever read of any major pogroms on the territory of today's Rep. of Lithuania (if anyone knowns of one, please let us know). In the interwar period, the situation of the Jews in the Rep. of Lith. was one of the best in Eastern Europe. While probably not completely equal, they did not suffer such humiliating discrimination as, e.g., in Poland after Pilsudski's death (I have heard enough personal recollections of that from a relative of mine who lived in the 1930ies Wilno). There is little reason to talk about a "country with anti-Semitic tradition" in the case of Lithuania. That is, before WWII, when things abruptly changed. " 

As for supply and demand - this applies to a free market. If you own the market - you are in position to set the demand. As simple as that, no?

Tautietis

Category : Blog archive

Getting this undertaking off the ground is awe-inspiring

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Professor Mikhail Iossel.

Congratulations on the VilNews debut in this new, expanded format. It looks very good indeed, is highly informative, and I wish you much success with it. The sheer amount of effort and dedication that must have gone into getting this undertaking off the ground is quite awe-inspiring. You are doing an important, noble thing for the beautiful country you love. It is indeed an exceptionally interesting, genuinely fascinating country, with a turbulent past and difficult present -- a place that, despite (and in part, due to) the many still-unresolved issues of history, never is not-interesting, where "the past is not dead. It isn't even past," to quote Faulkner -- and as someone who also has been held under its thrall for many years, I share your desire to see as many people as possible the world over to discover it, come visit -- and fall in love with it, too, and keep coming back. My very best wishes to VilNews.
Mikhail Iossel, Professor, Montreal, Canada

Category : About VilNews sidebar / Opinions

More than LTL one billion unaccounted for in the Snoras Bank case

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Lithuania’s banking regulator said hundreds of millions of dollars in assets may be missing from Bankas Snoras AB after the government took over the Baltic nation’s fifth-biggest lender on concern it may be performing illegal operations.
More than 1 billion litai ($392 million) of assets may be unaccounted for, central bank Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas told reporters yesterday in the capital, Vilnius. Snoras’s operations were halted until Nov. 21 and a state administrator appointed after the lender ignored recommendations to reduce its credit risk, the regulator said in a statement.
The Baltic region is recovering from the worst recession in the European Union, during which Latvia sought an international bailout after rescuing Parex Banka AS to protect it against a run on deposits. With 19.4 billion litai in foreign-currency reserves, Lithuania can handle the takeover of Snoras, which has a 10 percent market share, according to AB DnB Bankas economist Jekaterina Rojaka.
“This isn’t a systemic problem for the banking sector,” Rojaka said yesterday in a telephone interview from Vilnius. Still, “the situation requires speedy and smooth action to contain panic and prevent a fall in government bonds.”
Lithuania’s 10-year dollar bond declined today, sending the yield up 0.12 percentage point to 6.39 percent, the highest since Oct. 13. The six-month interbank rate, or the Vilibor, increased 10 basis points to 2.23 percent, the highest since Aug. 13, 2010. The NASDAQ OMX Vilnius index fell 2.53 percent.  

Read more:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-18/lithuania-seeks-missing-assets-in-takeover-of-snoras-bank.html

Category : News

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov – main owner of Snoras Bank

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Vladimir Antonov, Chairman of AB Bank SNORAS Supervisory Board, main shareholder of the bank.

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Antonov (born 1975) is a London-based Russian banker, entrepreneur and investor. In 2007 Antonov’s personal wealth was estimated at $300,000,000 which ranks him as number 182 among Russian millionaires.

Education
In 1996, Antonov graduated from Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics.[5] The university is one of the largest Russian economic institutes of higher education and a member of several international university bodies, such as the European University Association and the European Foundation for Management Development.

Banking
Since 2004 Vladimir Antonov has been chairman of the Supervisory Board of the International Financial Group Convers Group.[8] He is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC Finasta Holding, a member of the Supervisory Board of JSC bank Finasta, the main shareholder and Chairman of the Lithuanian Bank Snoras Supervisory Board, a member of the Supervisory Board of the bank Latvijas Krājbanka, and a member of the Board of Directors of the bank Banco Trasatlantico S.A.

Conversbank
Conversbank Financial Group operates as a financial and banking company in Europe and offers banking services for non-residents of the Russian Federation. The Group was founded in 1989 and is based in Moscow, the Russian Federation. It has branches in England, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Estonia.

Bankas Snoras
Vladimir Antonov is the main shareholder and chairman of Lithuania’s 5th biggest bank, Bankas Snoras. The company was formerly known as Siauliai Regional Bank and changed its name to AB Bankas Snoras in 1993. AB Bankas Snoras was founded in 1992 and is based in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2009 the bank applied to the British Financial Services Authority to operate in the UK. The FSA refused permission to conduct business in the UK because it repeatedly gave “misleading and incomplete” answers to the regulator. These include failing to mention that it had been refused permission to take retail deposits in Russia and had been fined by the Lithuanian banking regulator. The FSA also attacks the record of Bankas Snoras’ largest shareholder and chairman of its supervisory board, Vladimir Antonov, whom it accuses of withholding information.

“These failures are not an isolated instance but are examples of an ongoing pattern of behaviour by institutions controlled by Mr Antonov,” the FSA said. The investigations by Lithuanian financial authorities and National Bank discovered that Snoras bank stated the possession of inexistent offshore assets. In order to prevent the bank from collapse and protect small shareholders and savings accounts holders, on the 16th of November, 2011 100% of bank Snoras shares of the bank Snoras were nationalised by the Lithuanian government. The bank and its operations is now under criminal investigation.

Investbank
Until March 2011, Vladimir Antonov was the First Deputy Chairman of Investbank. The bank was controlled by Vladimir Antonov following a merger with Grankombank, Voronezhprombank and Conversbank in April 2008. The company Investbank works closely with affiliated financial structures both inside Russia and abroad. Its service network covers Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sverdlovsk, Voronezh and Rostov regions.

SAB -Spyker Cars
On 28 April 2011, the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) approved Vladimir Antonov as a shareholder of Dutch car maker Spyker. The debt office approved Vladimir Antonov's maximum investment of 30 million euros in Saab, owned by Spyker Cars in exchange for a stake of up to 29.9 percent of the company. The Swedish National Debt Office stated: "The National Debt Office has found no reason to deny the application from Saab and Spyker to make Vladimir Antonov an owner in Spyker."

Bo Lundgren, head of the Swedish National Debt Office said that part of the reason the Debt Office's review of Antonov took so long was the agency's need to examine rumours about his background, stating: "There have been a lot of rumours floating around which have led us to do this type of investigation. But we haven't found anything to indicate that he's inappropriate as an owner."

In February 2011, it was announced that Spyker Cars NV, the Dutch owner of Saab Automobile, agreed to sell its sports-car unit to Vladimir Antonov. Antonov, a former Spyker chairman and shareholder, is expected to pay 15 million euros ($21 million) for the company. In an article in the Financial Times in February 2011, Antonov said that newly acquired Spyker will build the company's new C8 sports car in Coventry and will also produce a sports-utility vehicle.

History
In 2007, Bankas Snoras acquired 29.9% of Dutch luxury automobile manufacturer, Spyker Cars, making Vladimir Antonov the single largest shareholder in the company.

In January 2010, it was reported that General Motors was preparing to sell Saab to Spyker for a nominal fee, and that the Swedish government had agreed to guarantee loans for the purchase from the European Investment Bank (EIB). If the takeover had been successful, the Saab brand and its operations would have been largely unaffected.

Allegations
Antonov's interests (29.9% of the shares) in Spyker Cars were said to have delayed the purchase of Saab Automobile in late 2009. An investigation by the Swedish monetary agency Riksgälden and the Swedish security police Säpo had allegedly found connections between the Antonov family and organized crime, as well as involvement in money laundering. Säpo reported their findings to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and shortly afterwards GM stopped further talks about the deal until the Antonov family had sold their shares in Spyker Cars.

From Wikipedia

Category : News

- Posted by - (0) Comment

SAAB/Spyker in January 2011:
GM decides Vladimir Antonov is a good guy after all


Vladimir Antonov - Not a 'Red under the Bed' after all.

GM has decided earlier this year that Spyker backer Vladimir Antonov is not a ‘Red under the Bed’ or the Russian Mafia’s banker after all. So now they’re happy to bank his money.
Some detected the odour of McCarthyism when GM told Spyker there could be no deal on Saab unless it showed major backer Vladimir Antonov the door. Which seemed a bit harsh; after all, there seemed no evidence to support accusations of links to organised crime by Vladimir or Convers Bank. It seemed to the casual observer that GM had developed a terminal case of Reds under the Bed.
But it now seems that GM has had a change of heart. It now appears ready to accept Vladimir/Convers as investor/shareholder/piggybank for Spyker/Saab (delete as required). Which could have much to do with an investigation commissioned by Vladimir which disproved all allegations of connections between Vladimir/Convers and the less salubrious sides of business life.
Or it could be that GM would quite like to offload the shareholding it still has in Saab (US$326 million of redeemable preference shares on the basis of the valuation when Saab finally got sold to Spyker.

Category : News

Lithuania sees no need for financial help at the moment despite the Snoras Bank takeover

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Ingrida Šimonytė, Minister of Finance.

Lithuania sees no need at the moment to appeal for international financial aid after it decided to take over one of the country's leading banks, Finance Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Wednesday.

The government earlier decided to take over Snoras Bank, the fifth-largest by assets, but with one of the biggest retail networks in the country.

"We are doing everything so that we will not need assistance," Simonyte told Reuters when asked whether her country would have to follow neighbouring Latvia, which took a bailout from the IMF and EU in late 2008 after bank problems. 

www.reuters.com

Category : News

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Mark your calendars:
The Christmas Charity Bazaar will take place on Saturday 3 December!


‘Team Ireland’ at last year’s bazaar.

The 9th International Christmas Charity Bazaar (ICCB) will take place on Saturday, 3 December, 2011 at the Vilnius Town Hall (Rotuše) under the kind patronage of Mrs Alma Adamkiene. The Bazaar, organised by the International Women’s Association of Vilnius (IWAV) in cooperation with the international diplomatic and business communities and Lithuanian friends, has become the unofficial start to the Christmas season.

The 2010 event was attended by more than 5.000 visitors and raised nearly 300.000 Litas for beneficiaries, including: Kaunas Medical University Clinic, Vilnius Residential Home for Children and Youth, Ekklesia Charity Foundation, Vilnius University Children's Oncology Unit, Kijeliu Home for Severely Disabled Children (specialusis ugdymo centras), Alantos Nursing Home for the Elderly, Children-Youth Day Care Centre “Musu Namelai”, and the Training Centre for the Blind and Visually Impaired. More information is available from: www.iwavilnius.com/iccb.

Read more...

Category : Front page

- Posted by - (1) Comment

Mark your calendars:
The Christmas Charity Bazaar will take place on Saturday 3 December!


‘Team Ireland’ at last year’s bazaar.

The 9th International Christmas Charity Bazaar (ICCB) will take place on Saturday, 3 December, 2011 at the Vilnius Town Hall (Rotuše) under the kind patronage of Mrs Alma Adamkiene. The Bazaar, organised by the International Women’s Association of Vilnius (IWAV) in cooperation with the international diplomatic and business communities and Lithuanian friends, has become the unofficial start to the Christmas season.

The 2010 event was attended by more than 5.000 visitors and raised nearly 300.000 Litas for beneficiaries, including: Kaunas Medical University Clinic, Vilnius Residential Home for Children and Youth, Ekklesia Charity Foundation, Vilnius University Children's Oncology Unit, Kijeliu Home for Severely Disabled Children (specialusis ugdymo centras), Alantos Nursing Home for the Elderly, Children-Youth Day Care Centre “Musu Namelai”, and the Training Centre for the Blind and Visually Impaired. More information is available from: www.iwavilnius.com/iccb.

All the organisers of the Christmas Bazaar are volunteers, who commit to the requirement that all money collected on the day of the Bazaar and related activities go directly to the beneficiaries. Sponsorships help to cover organisational costs; sponsors also have the option to fund the beneficiaries directly. The beneficiaries do not receive cash; the projects funded through the Christmas Bazaar are directly paid to the suppliers as per invoice. Potential beneficiaries for support this year are being evaluated presently and will be announced in October.

The attached description will present you with the opportunities to become involved in the Christmas Bazaar, a traditional event which becomes more successful each year in spite of challenges. We do hope that you will be able to join us in making a difference in the lives of the ill, less fortunate and disadvantaged.

If you have any question, please contact either Mercedes Sprouse, Co-Chair of the Organising Committee (e-mail: mercedes.sprouse@gmail.com; Mob.tel: +370.65568114), or Rima Ingstad, member of the organising committee responsible for sponsorship (e-mail: rima@svcentras.com ; Mob.tel: +370 687 73733).

Partnership and sponsorship opportunities

Sponsors participate in ICCB by invitation only under the following categories:

Benefactor:
A capital investment over 40.000 Lt which supports a particular beneficiary in substantive development and reconstruction. Benefactors receive highest priority in publicity.

VIP sponsor:
Principle investment over 5.000 Lt in materials, supplies, equipment, services and development of the event. VIP sponsors receive priority placement in publicity materials.

Contributors:
Sponsorship under this category may include cash donations of any kind, vouchers for goods or services for the Lottery, and facilities for organisation of the event.

Regarding the Lottery, Top Raffle Donors contribute prizes worth more than 1,000 Lt. The minimum contribution can be a combination of prizes however the total value must be no less than 200 Lt.

Information Partners:
Organisations which provide free advertising space and publicity in substantial quantity and length of time shall be recognised as a media sponsor, according to the value of the contribution.

Volunteers opportunities

About 50 key organisers work over six months to prepare the event. Another 200 volunteers become involved in the days before and during the Christmas Bazaar. Anyone interested in joining a particular country stand or contributing toward the overall organisation of the event is warmly welcome to contact the Chairs.

Category : The world in Lithuania

OPINIONS

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


By Dr. Boris Vytautas Bakunas,
Ph. D., Chicago

A wave of unity sweeps the international Lithuanian community on March 11th every year as Lithuanians celebrated the anniversary of the Lithuanian Parliament's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. However, the sense of national unity engendered by the celebration could be short-lived.

Human beings have a strong tendency to overgeneralize and succumb to stereotypical us-them distinctions that can shatter even the strongest bonds. We need only search the internet to find examples of divisive thinking at work:

- "50 years of Soviet rule has ruined an entire generation of Lithuanian.

- "Those who fled Lithuania during World II were cowards -- and now they come back, flaunt their wealth, and tell us 'true Lithuanians' how to live."

- "Lithuanians who work abroad have abandoned their homeland and should be deprived of their Lithuanian citizenship."

Could such stereotypical, emotionally-charged accusations be one of the main reasons why relations between Lithuania's diaspora groups and their countrymen back home have become strained?

Read more...
* * *


Text: Saulene Valskyte

In Lithuania Christmas Eve is a family event and the New Year's Eve a great party with friends!
Lithuanian say "Kaip sutiksi naujus metus, taip juos ir praleisi" (the way you'll meet the new year is the way you will spend it). So everyone is trying to spend New Year's Eve with friend and have as much fun as possible.

Lithuanian New Year's traditions are very similar to those in other countries, and actually were similar since many years ago. Also, the traditional Lithuanian New Years Eve party was very similar to other big celebrations throughout the year.

The New Year's Eve table is quite similar to the Christmas Eve table, but without straws under the tablecloth, and now including meat dishes. A tradition that definitely hasn't changes is that everybody is trying not to fell asleep before midnight. It was said that if you oversleep the midnight point you will be lazy all the upcoming year. People were also trying to get up early on the first day of the new year, because waking up late also meant a very lazy and unfortunate year.

During the New Year celebration people were dancing, singing, playing games and doing magic to guess the future. People didn't drink much of alcohol, especially was that the case for women.

Here are some advices from elders:
- During the New Year, be very nice and listen to relatives - what you are during New Year Eve, you will be throughout the year.

- During to the New Year Eve, try not to fall, because if this happens, next year you will be unhappy.

- If in the start of the New Year, the first news are good - then the year will be successful. If not - the year will be problematic.

New year predictions
* If during New Year eve it's snowing - then it will be bad weather all year round. If the day is fine - one can expect good harvest.
* If New Year's night is cold and starry - look forward to a good summer!
* If the during New Year Eve trees are covered with frost - then it will be a good year. If it is wet weather on New Year's Eve, one can expect a year where many will die and dangerous epidemics occur.
* If the first day of the new year is snowy - the upcoming year will see many young people die. If the night is snowy - mostly old people will die.
* If the New Year time is cold - then Easter will be warm.
* If during New Year there are a lot of birds in your homestead - then all year around there will be many guests and the year will be fun.

Read more...
* * *

* * *
VilNews
Christmas greetings
from Vilnius


* * *
Ukraine won the historic
and epic battle for the
future
By Leonidas Donskis
Kaunas
Philosopher, political theorist, historian of
ideas, social analyst, and political
commentator

Immediately after Russia stepped in Syria, we understood that it is time to sum up the convoluted and long story about Ukraine and the EU - a story of pride and prejudice which has a chance to become a story of a new vision regained after self-inflicted blindness.

Ukraine was and continues to be perceived by the EU political class as a sort of grey zone with its immense potential and possibilities for the future, yet deeply embedded and trapped in No Man's Land with all of its troubled past, post-Soviet traumas, ambiguities, insecurities, corruption, social divisions, and despair. Why worry for what has yet to emerge as a new actor of world history in terms of nation-building, European identity, and deeper commitments to transparency and free market economy?

Right? Wrong. No matter how troubled Ukraine's economic and political reality could be, the country has already passed the point of no return. Even if Vladimir Putin retains his leverage of power to blackmail Ukraine and the West in terms of Ukraine's zero chances to accede to NATO due to the problems of territorial integrity, occupation and annexation of Crimea, and mayhem or a frozen conflict in the Donbas region, Ukraine will never return to Russia's zone of influence. It could be deprived of the chances to join NATO or the EU in the coming years or decades, yet there are no forces on earth to make present Ukraine part of the Eurasia project fostered by Putin.

Read more...
* * *
Watch this video if you
want to learn about the
new, scary propaganda
war between Russia,
The West and the
Baltic States!


* * *
90% of all Lithuanians
believe their government
is corrupt
Lithuania is perceived to be the country with the most widespread government corruption, according to an international survey involving almost 40 countries.

Read more...
* * *
Lithuanian medical
students say no to
bribes for doctors

On International Anticorruption Day, the Special Investigation Service shifted their attention to medical institutions, where citizens encounter bribery most often. Doctors blame citizens for giving bribes while patients complain that, without bribes, they won't receive proper medical attention. Campaigners against corruption say that bribery would disappear if medical institutions themselves were to take resolute actions against corruption and made an effort to take care of their patients.

Read more...
* * *
Doing business in Lithuania

By Grant Arthur Gochin
California - USA

Lithuania emerged from the yoke of the Soviet Union a mere 25 years ago. Since then, Lithuania has attempted to model upon other European nations, joining NATO, Schengen, and the EU. But, has the Soviet Union left Lithuania?

During Soviet times, government was administered for the people in control, not for the local population, court decisions were decreed, they were not the administration of justice, and academia was the domain of ideologues. 25 years of freedom and openness should have put those bad experiences behind Lithuania, but that is not so.

Today, it is a matter of expectation that court pronouncements will be governed by ideological dictates. Few, if any Lithuanians expect real justice to be effected. For foreign companies, doing business in Lithuania is almost impossible in a situation where business people do not expect rule of law, so, surely Government would be a refuge of competence?

Lithuanian Government has not emerged from Soviet styles. In an attempt to devolve power, Lithuania has created a myriad of fiefdoms of power, each speaking in the name of the Government, each its own centralized power base of ideology.

Read more...
* * *
Greetings from Wales!
By Anita Šovaitė-Woronycz
Chepstow, Wales

Think of a nation in northern Europe whose population is around the 3 million mark a land of song, of rivers, lakes, forests, rolling green hills, beautiful coastline a land where mushrooms grow ready for the picking, a land with a passion for preserving its ancient language and culture.

Doesn't that sound suspiciously like Lithuania? Ah, but I didn't mention the mountains of Snowdonia, which would give the game away.

I'm talking about Wales, that part of the UK which Lithuanians used to call "Valija", but later named "Velsas" (why?). Wales, the nation which has welcomed two Lithuanian heads of state to its shores - firstly Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, who has paid several visits and, more recently, President Dalia Grybauskaitė who attended the 2014 NATO summit which was held in Newport, South Wales.
MADE IN WALES -
ENGLISH VERSION OF THE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
VYTAUTAS LANDSBERGIS.

Read more...
* * *
IS IT POSSIBLE TO
COMMENT ON OUR
ARTICLES? :-)
Read Cassandra's article HERE

Read Rugile's article HERE

Did you know there is a comment field right after every article we publish? If you read the two above posts, you will see that they both have received many comments. Also YOU are welcome with your comments. To all our articles!
* * *

Greetings from Toronto
By Antanas Sileika,
Toronto, Canada

Toronto was a major postwar settlement centre for Lithuanian Displaced Persons, and to this day there are two Catholic parishes and one Lutheran one, as well as a Lithuanian House, retirement home, and nursing home. A new wave of immigrants has showed interest in sports.

Although Lithuanian activities have thinned over the decades as that postwar generation died out, the Lithuanian Martyrs' parish hall is crowded with many, many hundreds of visitors who come to the Lithuanian cemetery for All Souls' Day. Similarly, the Franciscan parish has standing room only for Christmas Eve mass.

Although I am firmly embedded in the literary culture of Canada, my themes are usually Lithuanian, and I'll be in Kaunas and Vilnius in mid-November 2015 to give talks about the Lithuanian translations of my novels and short stories, which I write in English.

If you have the Lithuanian language, come by to one of the talks listed in the links below. And if you don't, you can read more about my work at
www.anatanassileika.com

http://www.vdu.lt/lt/rasytojas-antanas-sileika-pristatys-savo-kuryba/
https://leu.lt/lt/lf/lf_naujienos/kvieciame-i-rasytojo-59hc.html
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As long as VilNews exists,
there is hope for the future
Professor Irena Veisaite, Chairwoman of our Honorary Council, asked us to convey her heartfelt greetings to the other Council Members and to all readers of VilNews.

"My love and best wishes to all. As long as VilNews exists, there is hope for the future,"" she writes.

Irena Veisaite means very much for our publication, and we do hereby thank her for the support and wise commitment she always shows.

You can read our interview with her
HERE.
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EU-Russia:
Facing a new reality

By Vygaudas Ušackas
EU Ambassador to the Russian Federation

Dear readers of VilNews,

It's great to see this online resource for people interested in Baltic affairs. I congratulate the editors. From my position as EU Ambassador to Russia, allow me to share some observations.

For a number of years, the EU and Russia had assumed the existence of a strategic partnership, based on the convergence of values, economic integration and increasingly open markets and a modernisation agenda for society.

Our agenda was positive and ambitious. We looked at Russia as a country ready to converge with "European values", a country likely to embrace both the basic principles of democratic government and a liberal concept of the world order. It was believed this would bring our relations to a new level, covering the whole spectrum of the EU's strategic relationship with Russia.

Read more...
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The likelihood of Putin
invading Lithuania
By Mikhail Iossel
Professor of English at Concordia University, Canada
Founding Director at Summer Literary Seminars

The likelihood of Putin's invading Lithuania or fomenting a Donbass-style counterfeit pro-Russian uprising there, at this point, in my strong opinion, is no higher than that of his attacking Portugal, say, or Ecuador. Regardless of whether he might or might not, in principle, be interested in the insane idea of expanding Russia's geographic boundaries to those of the former USSR (and I for one do not believe that has ever been his goal), he knows this would be entirely unfeasible, both in near- and long-term historical perspective, for a variety of reasons. It is not going to happen. There will be no restoration of the Soviet Union as a geopolitical entity.

Read more...
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Are all Lithuanian energy
problems now resolved?
By Dr. Stasys Backaitis,
P.E., CSMP, SAE Fellow Member of Central and Eastern European Coalition, Washington, D.C., USA

Lithuania's Energy Timeline - from total dependence to independence

Lithuania as a country does not have significant energy resources. Energy consuming infrastructure after WWII was small and totally supported by energy imports from Russia.

First nuclear reactor begins power generation at Ignalina in 1983, the second reactor in 1987. Iganlina generates enough electricity to cover Lithuania's needs and about 50%.for export. As, prerequisite for membership in EU, Ignalina ceases all nuclear power generation in 2009

The Klaipėda Sea terminal begins Russia's oil export operations in 1959 and imports in 1994.

Mazeikiu Nafta (current ORLEAN Lietuva) begins operation of oil refinery in 1980.

Read more...
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Have Lithuanian ties across
the Baltic Sea become
stronger in recent years?
By Eitvydas Bajarunas
Ambassador to Sweden

My answer to affirmative "yes". Yes, Lithuanian ties across the Baltic Sea become as never before solid in recent years. For me the biggest achievement of Lithuania in the Baltic Sea region during recent years is boosting Baltic and Nordic ties. And not because of mere accident - Nordic direction was Lithuania's strategic choice.

The two decades that have passed since regaining Lithuania's independence can be described as a "building boom". From the wreckage of a captive Soviet republic, a generation of Lithuanians have built a modern European state, and are now helping construct a Nordic-Baltic community replete with institutions intended to promote political coordination and foster a trans-Baltic regional identity. Indeed, a "Nordic-Baltic community" - I will explain later in my text the meaning of this catch-phrase.

Since the restoration of Lithuania's independence 25 years ago, we have continuously felt a strong support from Nordic countries. Nordics in particular were among the countries supporting Lithuania's and Baltic States' striving towards independence. Take example of Iceland, country which recognized Lithuania in February of 1991, well in advance of other countries. Yet another example - Swedish Ambassador was the first ambassador accredited to Lithuania in 1991. The other countries followed suit. When we restored our statehood, Nordic Countries became champions in promoting Baltic integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. To large degree thanks Nordic Countries, massive transformations occurred in Lithuania since then, Lithuania became fully-fledged member of the EU and NATO, and we joined the Eurozone on 1 January 2015.

Read more...
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It's the economy, stupid *
By Valdas (Val) Samonis,
PhD, CPC

n his article, Val Samonis takes a comparative policy look at the Lithuanian economy during the period 2000-2015. He argues that the LT policy response (a radical and classical austerity) was wrong and unenlightened because it coincided with strong and continuing deflationary forces in the EU and the global economy which forces were predictable, given the right policy guidance. Also, he makes a point that LT austerity, and the resulting sharp drop in GDP and employment in LT, stimulated emigration of young people (and the related worsening of other demographics) which processes took huge dimensions thereby undercutting even the future enlightened efforts to get out of the middle-income growth trap by LT. Consequently, the country is now on the trajectory (development path) similar to that of a dog that chases its own tail. A strong effort by new generation of policymakers is badly needed to jolt the country out of that wrong trajectory and to offer the chance of escaping the middle-income growth trap via innovations.

Read more...
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Have you heard about the
South African "Pencil Test"?
By Karina Simonson

If you are not South African, then, probably, you haven't. It is a test performed in South Africa during the apartheid regime and was used, together with the other ways, to determine racial identity, distinguishing whites from coloureds and blacks. That repressive test was very close to Nazi implemented ways to separate Jews from Aryans. Could you now imagine a Lithuanian mother, performing it on her own child?

But that is exactly what happened to me when I came back from South Africa. I will tell you how.

Read more...
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Click HERE to read previous opinion letters >



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