Lithuanian PM presents positive annual report to parliament

Lithuanian prime minister Algirdas Butkevicius presented the government's annual activity report to the Seimas, Lithuanian parliament, on Thursday, saying he believed the current challenges strengthened the government.

The head of the Cabinet named the completion of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal, euro adoption, and strengthening of the country's defense capabilities as the main achievements last year.

According to Butkevicius, the new LNG terminal, which allowed the small Baltic country to diversify its gas supplies, "has fundamentally shifted the energy security situation in the Baltic region to our benefit," while the euro adoption was "a great way to tell the international media about Lithuania's achievements."

He underlined the government's increased defense spending designated to modernizing armed forces.

"A rapid reaction force ready to oppose hybrid threats was created, we started acquiring more powerful weapons, restoring our ammunition reserves," said Butkevicius.

The government report underlined that the development of a socially-oriented economy remained a strategic goal of the current government.

"In 2014, unemployment decreased significantly, real wages increased," the government said in its report.

Last year, the unemployment rate dropped to 10.7 percent, real wages increased by 5.0 percent, and domestic consumption grew by 5.7 percent.

EXCEPTIONAL CONDITIONS

During his speech at the Seimas, Butkevicius emphasized his center-left government had been working in exceptional conditions last year due to the changed geopolitical situation, security threats, and increased uncertainty in Eastern Europe.

The prime minister said being the outpost of the European Union in the east, Lithuania expectedly experienced the largest negative impact on its economy facing Russia's embargo on food exports, thus harming domestic consumption and investment.

According to Butkevicius, Russia's embargo slashed 0.8 percentage point from gross domestic product growth last year, but this did not hinder Lithuania's becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the EU with three percent GDP expansion.

FOUR OUT OF TEN

Local journalists asked Butkevicius about his own assessment of the government's work on a scale of 1 to 10.

"I'm very modest, I think I could write a six," said Butkevicius.

Meanwhile, Andrius Kubilius, former prime minister of Lithuania, and one of the leaders of the opposition party Homeland Union-Lithuania Christian Democrats, said he rated the current government's job as a 4 out of 10.

"The worst thing and the most visible attribute of the government activity last year was an absolute lack of new initiatives," Kubilius said to journalists.

"This is ideological stagnation, absence of ideological leadership leading to economic stagnation," he added.

The current government, led by the Social Democratic Party, has been in power since 2012.