OPINIONS

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• 
  
  “Zuokas Airline” - AIR LITUANICA - to take off in June:
  Is this sensible use of taxpayers' money in a time of crisis?
  
  Follow the debate in our VilNews Forum
  
  Ulf Hallan Richard Branson: "If you want to become a millionaire, start with one billion dollars and open an airline company."
  
  
  Aage Myhre My personal comment is that this smells like failure. We have over many years seen state owned airlines in the Baltic and Nordic countries, all bankrupt or on the brink of bankruptcy ... The funny thing is that the people of Vilnius seem to accept this without protests... I can only imagine what the reactions would have been in a western capital ... 
  
  I fully understand that Lithuania needs an airline, and I think the name is very good! But I think, with due respect, that a mayor should be active with totally different things and leave it to experienced business people from the aviation industry to take care of establishing a new airline ...
  
  
  Matilda Allen I am sorry, they're idiots! Well, maybe we have to look deeper? Paksas , Zuokas....? Money laundry?
  
  
  Aage Myhre to Matilda Allen: We see something similar with regards to how the Lithuanian government has handled the crisis over the last 5 years ... People in Southern Europe, where wages and living conditions are much better than here, take to the streets for massive protests against their governments austerity measures, while here in Lithuania people only bow their heads or leave ...
  
  
  Irene Simanavicius to Aage Myhre: You are 100% correct about the Mayor reaching out to the experts. Canadians almost paid billions for an aircraft carrier for our Military Defense, and because one aviation mechanic that lived in Houston who used to be part of our Air force and flew to the Arctic on a regular basis before he retired recognized the plane as NOT HAVING a twin engine. He mentioned it to someone and it got on the news and our politicians were RED FACED for being so stupid and falling for the marketing hype without thinking or asking the experts. It was just a shiny new brand new toy to them. The mechanic said when he flew in the severe cold one engine would completely seize up and if he didn't have the reserve, well...he wouldn't be here nor anyone he transported.(so many examples are out there from cocky politicians trying to make their mark):)
  
  
  Sergey Kanovich Well, owning 83% of the stake while also owning 1 billion LT debt is something worth of Nobel in finance and economy. I bet that this will be a flying tram... On the other hand it is an excellent PR stunt at someone else expense (guess who's:)) again. And if it fails like other projects failed - who cares...
  
  It also says that the MD of Air Lituanica without the wings is being paid 30,000 LT monthly salary. Municipality last year has allocated 0,5mio, then this year almost 3mio LT. It is not intended to be low cost airline. it is intended to suck monies out of already existing 1 billion LT whole... Unbelievable
  
  
  Eugene Rangayah  I have come across the a slide highlighting the proposal for the airline and noticed a Brian Joffe in the midst. Mr Joffe has been CEO of the Bidvest group in South Africa, which has a huge investment portfolio spanning the continent. With the support of people like him, with a good entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen, the airline could turn out to be a success. However, I do think that it is very ambitious growth that had been forecast over the next 5 years. It does not seem apparent that any consideration had been taken on the competition from low cost carriers which have positioned themselves at VNO!
  
  
  Arvi Vaalivonis This is more about the LT pride than business…
  ...
• KLAIPĖDA OPINIONS17 – 24 July was our week with 'Focus on Klaipeda’. Below we bring a selection of comments and perceptions we were presented to from people who responded to us during the week.
  
  Aage Myhre
  Editor-in-Chief
  aage.myhre@VilNews.com...
• KLAIPĖDA MAYOR
  Mayor of Klaipeda,
  Vytautas Grubliauskas
  
  A few days ago I interviewed the new Mayor of Klaipeda, Vytautas Grubliauskas. and I am in the following repeating three of the questions and his answers.
  
  - Aage Myhre, Editor-in-Chief...
• 1) Klaipėda, and I personally, welcomes gay prides and gay communities
  
  QUESTION:
  Lawmakers in Lithuania's Committee on Legal Affairs, under the leadership of MP Petras Gražulis, voted recently to make even more stringent censorship legislation against homosexuals in this country, saying that they should be able to fine people for the "propagation of homosexual relations" in public. This has earned condemnation from EU groups who say this is just another step in furthering an ultra conservative agenda in Lithuania. How gay hostile can Lithuania become before someone starts appealing to normal common sense?
  
  THE MAYOR'S ANSWER:
  Opposite to any former mayors of Vilnius and Petras Gražulis himself, Klaipėda, and I personally, welcomes gay prides and gay communities. The whole idea of censorship is based on ridiculous logics, as psychologist O. Tapinas said once correctly "if you observe birds for a while you will become bird yourself". I think we are talking about so called "10% society" and the rest 90% can't be "persuaded" into homosexuality. Denial will only increase frustration in society....
• 2) More transparent municipal services
  Klaipeda Coat of Arms
  
  MY QUESTION:
  I have heard said that if Lithuania's politicians and bureaucrats were half as interested in the country they are supposed to serve as in their own pockets, this would already have been a fine, prosperous country. Fraud, corruption, briberies, lack of teamwork and transparency have all too often become terms used while describing the way Lithuania is managed. Do you have any clean-up plans ready?
  
  THE MAYOR'S ANSWER:
  Clear bureaucratic rules, short deadlines, e-government, well managed outsourced functions and motivated workforce is a key to more transparent municipal services. I see lots of space for improvement in Klaipėda. Biggest expectations I have towards introduction of electronic tender system and HR department....
• 3) Now it is time for pure living and jazzy soulsThe Mayor has background as a professional jazz trumpet player and singer.
  MY QUESTION:
  Finally, please let our huge, international VilNews readership know what are your visions and plans for Klaipeda and the Baltic Sea region over the years to come?
  
  THE MAYOR'S ANSWER:
  I will strive for Klaipėda to become an Eastern European avant-garde city in life quality and culture. For many years we had wrong priorities. Now it is time for pure living and jazzy souls. ...
• An Irish success story in Klaipeda
  James A. Clarke, Managing Director of BNTP (Baltic Real-Estate Developments).
  James was only 21 years old when he came to Klaipeda and Lithuania for the first time. The building engineer who had grown up at an Irish family farm had come here to buy horses on behalf of his uncle, Ireland's largest horse-farmer.
  
  Something out here at the Lithuanian coast must have caught James' interest and curiosity even then, so after having travelled around and seen more of the world, he came back in 2003. And now the business got serious.
  
  That very same year, BNTP (Baltic Real-Estate Developments) was established in Klaipeda, where it successfully developed the first modern business park in Lithuania - Klaipeda Business Park. Since then BNTP has expanded its portfolio through developments and acquisitions to include commercial centres and land plots in Lithuania and Latvia.
  
  James has been very active and successful in his real estate endeavours since the start-up eight years ago....
• Get rid of your taboos. We are all just human beings…
  Clifford Lont, Chairman of Klaipeda International Business Club, has moved the long way from Suriname in South America to a much colder climate here at the Lithuanian coast.
  At the end of my interview with Clifford Lont, I said to him:
  
  "Clifford, I have two remaining questions for you this Sunday afternoon here at the river edge in Klaipeda."
  
  Question number 1: "Do you have something to say to all the young people who are about to leave Lithuania in an emigration flow that seems to have no end?"
  
  Question number 2: "Have you experienced racism here in Lithuania, and what is in case your normal reaction?"
  
  It should be noted that Clifford does not seem to be much hampered by his dark skin colour, even here where so few stand just as much out as he does. He flirts lightly with the waitress in the outdoor restaurant where we sit. He smiles and nods to people passing by. He has obviously become a familiar face to many over the years he has lived here. Then he answers my questions:
  
  To question 1: "Do not run away. Because by doing that you contribute to emptying your home country for dynamic young people and good workers. Stay here. Those who dare to stay behind will be the winners in the end!"
  
  To question 2: "Well, let me first say that many do not know that there are black people also in South America. And to those with racist tendencies I would simply say: Get rid of your taboos. We are all just human beings..."...
• The biggest challenge is to find people willing to work at our shipyard
  Arnold Šileika, General Director of Klaipeda's Western Shipyard
  Arnold Šileika has been working in Klaipeda's Western Shipyard since 1989, first as foreman, then as the company's General Director for the last ten years.
  
  The company has now 2.000 employees, plus 1.000 more working on the territory for the shipyard on contract basis, totally 3.000 persons.
  
  "You have, in other words, seen the whole transition from having been Soviet-ruled to becoming a Western company," I state.
  
  And the director responds, still just as open and straight forward, that the biggest challenge has been to get workers to change their mentality from eastern to western ways of thinking.
  
  "But now, today, the biggest challenge is actually to find people who want to work here," he says. "This despite the fact that we pay almost twice as high wages as what the labour market in Lithuania in general offers. We actually have had to start to bring in workers from Bulgaria and Romania to fulfill our obligations," he says....
• Sometimes I feel the authorities are more eager to create problems than to help out
  Gunnvald Laukhammer, General Director of Lido Marine
  Gunnvald Laukhammer is not exactly thrilled with the way the Lithuanian authorities often are acting.
  
  "Sometimes I feel they are more eager to create problems than to help out," he says. "Take as an example that our company Baltic Marine Furniture now for a long period of time has tried to get permission to extend the furniture workshop building in Kretinga. But instead of welcoming new jobs and investments with open arms, the local authorities seem to do what they can to thwart us, and we still have not received a building permit for a rather simple building extension, on our own land, after about two years of waiting. Now another winter may come before we can start building," he says.
  
  Gunnvald is not overexcited when he talks about the many bureaucrats and politicians he thinks Lithuania has too many of.
  
  "I simply no longer allow myself to get annoyed at how poorly the systems in this country often works," he says in his laconic, Western-Norwegian, manner.
  
  "It is, however, strange to see," he says, "that an investor and export company like ours is getting no support or help from the local Lithuanian authorities. I feel, on the contrary, that they sometimes are attempting to cheat and take unfair advantage of us and other foreign companies here."
  
  "For a company like ours, maybe not so large but still engaged in important export-oriented industry, bringing value to the country in terms of wages, taxes, purchase of equipment /materials and trade with other local business, etc., etc., the authorities should exercise benevolence to give us best possible conditions to ensure that companies like ours can evolve as quickly as possible. They should not create unnecessary delays and obstacles. We all loose on that."...
• At first glance the planned LNG terminal shouldn’t represent a negative risk for the environment
  Rokas Masiulis, General Manager of Klaipedos Nafta
  "Klaipedos Nafta plans the new LNG terminal to have a capacity of 2-3 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and that it will cost some EUR 200-300 million to build. Can you elucidate more on these figures? Maybe also exemplify a bit on how many gas tankers (ships) that will represent per year, etc.? And what about the environmental risks, pollution etc. having the LNG terminal located so close to Klaipeda city?"
  
  "The main parameters are so far preliminary, so this is not the time to speculate. In 3-4 months, with Fluor advice, we will determine the main parameters and then we will have a vision of the business plan.
  
  Environmental impact assessment will determine any existing environmental risk, pollution and other risks. It is planned to have EIA report ready by the end of 2012. At the first glance it shouldn't be a negative risk. There are several examples in the world where terminals are located very close to a city, i.e. Barcelona (Enagas)."...
• I was astonished to see what a nice area this is, when I first came here
  General Manager Tobias Ammon at Radisson Blu Hotel in Klaipeda.
  The Radisson Blu Hotel in Klaipeda has just celebrated its first ten years as the only truly international luxury hotel at Lithuania's beautiful seacoast.
  
  Two months ago the hotel got a new General Manager, German Tobias Ammon (35), and I am sitting down with him in the hotel's breakfast room this early July morning to let him explain to you, dear readers, why you should visit Klaipeda and his hotel – this summer as well as when the autumn winds already make the endless Baltic Sea waves powerfully roll in towards the port city shores.
  
  "I must admit that I had to ask where Klaipeda is when I was offered this position, but I was astonished to see what a nice area this is, when I first came here," tells the young manager, who now has moved here with wife and little daughter. He and his little family are now in full swing "testing Klaipeda as travel destination", and they are using their bicycles to do exactly that!
  
  "This area is really ideal for bikes, and we are now using our weekends to bike to the fantastic beaches in the outskirts of the city, riding through beautiful coastal pine tree forests, villages and over the wavy, green landscapes that characterise this area," he tells....

• Lithuania turns its back on us

  The trick is, what to do about it or, for those of us living outside, why should we be concerned? As life goes on, roots are deepened overseas and Lithuania turns its back on us or makes no effort to either woo back the Diaspora, attract tourists or foreign investment (are these all culturally linked?) an "ace up Lithuania's sleeve" will be lost forever.
  
  To be sure, internally generated progress over the last 20 years has been great and the cultural life, in Vilnius particularly, makes life here in Cleveland, or almost anywhere else I can afford to live, pretty dull.
  
  Lithuania, however, given its precarious geographic position and small population needs to be exceptional in how it organizes itself and how it takes advantage of every scrap of resource (particularly human) that it can.
  
  Rimas Aukstuolis,
  Cleveland (American-Lithuanian)
  Vice President Structured Trade Finance, Fifth Third Bank

  
• The truth is that the Soviet communist nomenklatura has hijacked Lithuania's development in the last two decades

  
  
  Unfortunately, the "inconvenient truth" is that the Soviet communist nomenklatura has hijacked Lithuania's development in the last almost two decades and, consequently, our country has largely horribly wasted a truly impressive and immense political and economic capital of global good will, so excruciatingly hard earned by the Victims of the January 13th, 1991 brutal Soviet aggression and by the blood and brains of the legendary Lithuanian freedom fighters, world renowned anti-communist dissident movements, and political refugees in the West in the post-WW II years.
  
  Valdas Samonis, PhD, CPC (Canadian – Lithuanian)
  The Web Professor of Global Management (SM)

  
• You are again doing something that Lithuanian officials ought to do

  I got the address of VilNews from my American friend. Best congratulations. You are again doing something that Lithuanian officials ought to do.
  Vilius Kavaliauskas, advisor of former PM Algirdas Brazauskas
  

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

  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

  
• We really needed something like this long ago

  Let me express my warmest greetings for such a wonderful job. I'm sure it will contribute a lot to creating a better image of Lithuania in the world. We really needed something like this long ago.
  Kristina Lukošiūtė, Lithuanian Business Confederation | ICC Lithuania
  Director of Corporate Affairs

  
• Getting this undertaking off the ground is awe-inspiring

  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

  
• Informative and well-balanced news forum

  Your dedication to this e-magazine is remarkable. Thank you for providing such an informative and well-balanced news forum.
  Jurate Burns, Destin Library Director
  Destin, Florida, USA

  
• On this very cold day I can feel the warmth of VilNews!

  Great! Congratulations! On this very cold day I can feel the warmth out of VilNews!
  Justas Dvarionas, Vilnius
  

  
• Such a wonderful magazine

  Congrats on launching of such a wonderful online magazine. Wish you all the best.
  Sudhir Sajwan, India
  

  
• I greatly appreciate you courage

  A hearty congratulations on launch of your new e-publication! I've already read parts of the first edition, and I look forward to future instalments. While I enjoy every bit of VilNews, I greatly appreciate your interest and courage in publishing articles on tough subjects. My connection with Lithuania? My grandfather emigrated to the US from a small village near Siauliai in 1912, and today I find myself as a member of the board of directors for the Auksuciai Foundation.
  Ted Shapas, Alamo, California
  

  
• Aloha from Hawaii!

  Thanks for keeping me posted these last few months while I enjoy the winter in sunny and warm Hawaii. I want to congratulate you for your great new idea and wish you all the best with the project. You can count on me to be an avid reader.
  Aloha, Elena Bradunas Aglinskas
  

  
• A fantastic achievement

  Very many congratulations on a fantastic achievement with producing such a very professional looking site and highly informative.
  Peter Swanson, (British-Lithuanian Society), UK
  

  
• To achieve great results it takes fundamental, personal values, sharp vision continuous commitment, and hard work

  Some world leaders loud the phrases "yes we can" and "change you can trust (what change: good or bad?)"... However, what they fail to understand is that to achieve great results it takes fundamental, personal values, sharp vision, continuous commitment, and hard work. That is why they fail and You succeed!
  Romas Brickus, Cape Cod Island, USA
  

  
• You did it!!

  This looks great and what amazing content! You did it!! I'm looking forward to contributing... Labai aciu for all you do for Lithuania,
  Marina Farrell, Denver Colorado, USA
  

  
• We strongly oppose such "improvement" of business conditions from the government

  Rūta Vainienė
  
  The Government has given the go-ahead to the idea of the bankruptcy of natural persons, but it still needs to be endorsed by the Parliament. Therefore we warned the legislators once again that this move would be unsound since it would foster people's irresponsibility, provoke living above people's financial capacities and engender other negative results. The government is constantly speaking about improving the business climate; however, speeches remain speeches and, on top of that, authorities devise new regulations and sanctions for corporate executives. We strongly oppose such "improvement" of business conditions and propose other solutions.
  We reminded the policy makers about the inveterate flaws of the social security system (Sodra), also highlighting that sweeping changes need to be undertaken to amend the situation.
  More information on our activities can be found in our webpage www.freema.org.
  
  Rūta Vainienė
  President,
  Lithuanian Free market Institute