In July, the parliament of Lithuania passed a package of amendments to the law on corporate income tax. According to them, bad debts will be recognised as business costs reducing taxable profits if they are not paid one year after their including in a company’s sales. A zero tax rate will be applied to profits spent on repair of fixed assets, the value of which exceeds 50 percent of the purchase value, as well as on the purchase of licensed software (previously this applied only to hardware). These amendments were proposed by a Sunrise tax force headed by LFMI Vice President Rūta Vainienė.

On May 4 Rūta Vainienė attended a meeting of the Sunrise Commission to discuss amendments to the laws on corporate and personal income taxation as well as the real estate tax. She spoke about the Sunrise proposals on Žinių Radio, May 5, and was cited in the business daily Verslo žinios of May 17. Rūta Vainienė testified before the cabinet April 19 and the Sunrise Commission April 28 on amendments to the value added tax. On May 1, Rūta presented LFMI position on the aforesaid amendments to the Lithuanian Industrialists Confederation.

In a press release of April 7, LFMI urged the government to approve, under the Sunrise Commission, a package of policy measures to reduce bureaucracies and business regulations, which was formulated by a Sunrise task force headed by LFMI Vice President Ugnius Trumpa. Ugnius was cited extensively on the implementation of Sunrise recommendations in the Lithuanian press May 10. On May 12 he participated in a talk show on the Lithuanian television about business conditions in Lithuania.

On 2 May, LFMI issued a press release criticising the newly introduced ban on tobacco advertising. LFMI position was featured in the Respublika and Lietuvos Žinios dailies. Respublika also published an article by Elena Leontjeva, May 23.

On May 30, LFMI issued a press release criticising the defective privatisation of the Lithuanian telecommunications company. LFMI opposed proposals to halt the sale because of a slump in the prices of telecommunications shares on international markets. LFMI noted that the privatisation of the Lithuanian telecom would be more transparent and efficient if it were conducted on the stock exchange. LFMI policy analysts commented on this issue on Žinių Radio and the Lithuanian radio.

In an April 3 press release, LFMI urged the government to abandon its plans to increase import duties on cooking oil. LFMI stressed that this step would injure Lithuanian companies and provoke retaliatory measures from other countries. LFMI policy analyst Ramūnas Vilpišauskas commented on the planned increase on Žinių Radio and the Lithuanian Radio.

In an April 4 meeting of the Sunset Commission, Elena Leontjeva testified on the structural healthcare reform proposed by the Ministry of Healthcare. Leontjeva was cited in the Veidas journal of April 6 and was interviewed for the Lietuvos Sveikata journal of May 4. On May 31 she participated in a press conference held by the Sunset Commission on the planned reorganisation of institutions that are presently under the Healthcare Ministry’s control. LFMI proposals were featured in the Lietuvos aidas and Lietuvos rytas dailies of June 1.

LFMI formulated proposals for reforming the financing of the educational system in Lithuania and submitted them to a governmental task force. LFMI policy analyst Remigijus Šimašius is a member of the task force. On May 12, an interview with Elena Leontjeva on the need to reform the educational system was published in the Dialogas journal. Rūta Vainienė spoke about the proposed principles of financing the educational system on the Lithuanian radio.

LFMI commented extensively on the monetary policy in Lithuania. Rūta Vainienė spoke about the repegging of litas to euro on the Lithuanian Radio and before the Lithuanian Industrialists Confederation. Elena Leontjeva participated in a debate on the Lithuanian monetary policy on the Lithuanian Television, May 30, and contributed an opinion column to the May 22 Verslo žinios.

On June 5-7, Analyst Guoda Steponavičienė read a paper on the administration of the pension system to an international conference “Pension Reform in Lithuania: A Myth or Reality,” organised by the Lithuanian Government and the World Bank. She spoke on pension reform on Žinių Radio and was cited in the Esu journal.

On April 28, Ramūnas Vilpišauskas participated in the presentation of OECD publication “The Baltic States – Regional Economic Analysis.”