Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the Parliament;
Court of Appeal, judges appointed by the Parliament
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party or LKDP
[Algirdas SAUDARGAS, chairman]; Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania or
LDDP [Mindaugas STANKEVICIUS, chairman]; Lithuanian Nationalist Union
or LTS [Rimantas SMETONA, chairman]; Lithuanian Social Democratic
Party or LSDP [Aloyzas SAKALAS, chairman]; Farmers' Union [Jonas
CIULEVICIUS, chairman]; Center Union [Romualdas OZOLAS, chairman];
Homeland Union/Conservative Party [Vytautas LANDSBERGIS, chairman];
Lithuanian Polish Union or LLS [Rsztardas MACIEKIANIEC, chairman];
Democratic Party or DP [Lydie WURTH-POLFER, president]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Lithuanian Future Forum
International organization participation: BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, EBRD,
ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NACC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Alfonsas EIDINTAS chancery: 2622 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5860 FAX : [1] (202) 328-0466 consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador James W. SWIHART, Jr. embassy: Akmenu 6, Vilnius 2600 mailing address: PSC 78, Box V, APO AE 09723 telephone : [370] 670-6083 FAX: [370] 670-6084
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red
Economy
Economy - overview: Since declaring independence in 1990, Lithuania has implemented reforms aimed at eliminating the vestiges of the former socialist system. With the help of the IMF and other international institutions, the government has adopted a disciplined program to restrain inflation, abolish most price controls, lower the budget deficit, and privatize the economy. More than two-thirds of its industrial facilities as well as most housing and agricultural enterprises have been privatized. Although some important "strategic" enterprises remain exempt from privatization, the new government has outlined plans to privatize large companies dealing with transport, pipelines, communications, and energy. While Lithuania has reduced its trade dependence on Russia and other republics of the FSU from 85% in 1991 to about 40% in 1995, Russia remains Lithuania's leading trading partner. Lithuania has made great strides in reducing its annual rate of inflation - from over 1,100% in 1992 to about 35% in 1995 and 13.1% in 1996. Although the government tried to stay the course on economic reform and fiscal discipline in 1996, the new government, which took office in 1996 inherited high debts for energy supplies. As for real resources, Lithuania's growth depends largely on its ability to exploit its strategic location - with its ice-free port at Klaipeda and its rail and highway hub in Vilnius connecting it with Eastern Europe, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Lacking important natural resources, it will remain dependent on imports of fuels and raw materials.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $14.1 billion (1996 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)