*Lithuania, Government
Head of Government:
Premier Adolfas SLEZEVICIUS (since NA)
Member of:
CBSS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, NACC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Stasys LOZORAITIS, Jr.
chancery:
2622 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone:
(202) 234-5860, 2639
FAX:
(202) 328-0466
consulate general:
New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Darryl N. JOHNSON
embassy:
Akmenu 6, Vilnius 232600
mailing address:
APO AE 09723
telephone:
011 [7] (012-2) 222-031
FAX:
011 [7] (012-2) 222-779
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red
*Lithuania, Economy
Overview:
Lithuania is striving to become an independent privatized economy. Although
it was substantially above average in living standards and technology in the
old USSR, Lithuania historically lagged behind Latvia and Estonia in
economic development. The country has no important natural resources aside
from its arable land and strategic location. Industry depends entirely on
imported materials that have come from the republics of the former USSR.
Lithuania benefits from its ice-free port at Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea and
its rail and highway hub at Vilnius, which provides land communication
between Eastern Europe and Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus. Industry
produces a small assortment of high-quality products, ranging from complex
machine tools to sophisticated consumer electronics. Because of nuclear
power, Lithuania is presently self-sufficient in electricity, exporting its
surplus to Latvia and Belarus; the nuclear facilities inherited from the
USSR, however, have come under world scrutiny as seriously deficient in
safety standards. Agriculture is efficient compared with most of the former
Soviet Union. Lithuania held first place in per capita consumption of meat,
second place for eggs and potatoes, and fourth place for milk and dairy
products. Grain must be imported to support the meat and dairy industries.
Lithuania is pressing ahead with plans to privatize at least 60% of
state-owned property (industry, agriculture, and housing), having already
sold almost all housing and many small enterprises using a voucher system.
Other government priorities include encouraging foreign investment by
protecting the property rights of foreign firms and redirecting foreign
trade away from Eastern markets to the more competitive Western markets. For
the moment, Lithuania will remain highly dependent on Russia for energy, raw
materials, grains, and markets for its products. In 1992, output plummeted
by 30% because of cumulative problems with inputs and with markets, problems
that were accentuated by the phasing out of the Russian ruble as the medium
of exchange.
National product:
GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
-30% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10%-20% per month (first quarter 1993)
Unemployment rate:
1% (February 1993); but large numbers of underemployed workers
Budget:
revenues $258.5 million; expenditures $270.2 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports:
$NA
commodities:
electronics 18%, petroleum products 5%, food 10%, chemicals 6% (1989)
partners:
Russia 40%, Ukraine 16%, other former Soviet republics 32%, West 12%
Imports:
$NA
commodities:
oil 24%, machinery 14%, chemicals 8%, grain NA% (1989)
partners:
Russia 62%, Belarus 18%, former Soviet republics 10%, West 10%
External debt:
$650 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate -50% (1992 est.)
*Lithuania, Economy
Electricity:
5,925,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced, 6,600 kWh per capita
(1992)
Industries:
employs 25% of the labor force; shares in the total production of the former
USSR are: metal-cutting machine tools 6.6%; electric motors 4.6%; television
sets 6.2%; refrigerators and freezers 5.4%; other branches: petroleum
refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food
processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment,
electronic components, computers, and amber
Agriculture:
employs around 20% of labor force; sugar, grain, potatoes, sugarbeets,
vegetables, meat, milk, dairy products, eggs, fish; most developed are the
livestock and dairy branches, which depend on imported grain; net exporter
of meat, milk, and eggs
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and Southwest Asia to
Western Europe; limited producer of illicit opium; mostly for domestic
consumption
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (1992), $10 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-86), $NA million;
Communist countries (1971-86), $NA million
Currency:
using talonas as temporary currency (March 1993), but planning introduction
of convertible litas (late 1993)
Exchange rates:
NA
Fiscal year:
calendar year
*Lithuania, Communications
Railroads:
2,100 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
44,200 km total 35,500 km hard surfaced, 8,700 km earth (1990)
Inland waterways:
600 km perennially navigable
Pipelines:
crude oil 105 km, natural gas 760 km (1992)
Ports:
coastal - Klaipeda; inland - Kaunas
Merchant marine:
46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 282,633 GRT/332,447 DWT; includes 31
cargo, 3 railcar carrier, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 11 combination bulk
Airports:
total:
96
useable:
19
with permanent-surface runways:
12
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
5
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
11
Telecommunications:
better developed than in most other former USSR republics; operational
NMT-450 analog cellular network in Vilnius; fiber optic cable installed
beween Vilnius and Kaunas; 224 telephones per 1000 persons; broadcast
stations - 13 AM, 26 FM, 1 SW, 1 LW, 3 TV; landlines or microwave to former
USSR republics; leased connection to the Moscow international switch for
traffic with other countries; satellite earth stations - (8 channels to
Norway); new international digital telephone exchange in Kaunas for direct
access to 13 countries via satellite link out of Copenhagen, Denmark
*Lithuania, Defense Forces
Branches:
Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Security Forces (internal and border
troops), National Guard (Skat)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 933,245; fit for military service 739,400; reach military
age (18) annually 27,056 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $NA, 5.5% of GDP (1993 est.)