Minister: thousands of IT professionals from Russia, Belarus on their way to Lithuania

VILNIUS – Thousands of IT professionals from Russia and Belarus are expected to arrive in Lithuania in the near future due to the war in Ukraine, Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite said on Friday. 

"In fact, we can talk about thousands of information technology and telecommunication professionals who are coming to Lithuania and are already on their way," she told a news conference. 

According to Armonaite, her ministry cooperates with Russian and Belarusian IT companies that are already present in Lithuania and want to move their offices to the country, and is also in talks on the relocation of unnamed Western companies' units.  

"We are working with two groups: companies that are already present in Lithuania and have their branches there [in Russia and Belarus] and want to relocate their employees and their families, and multinational companies that want to move their operations from these capitals or major cities to Vilnius," the minister said. 

"The situation is extremely sensitive, so for security reasons I cannot and do not want to name any specific multinationals or say how they are going to get to Lithuania," she added.