Lietuva in brief - 2012-11-01

  • 2012-10-31

Presidential Adviser on Domestic Policy Mindaugas Linge says that Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who is submitting amendments to the law provisioning the organization of the parliamentary election, hopes for greater transparency, reports ELTA. “The president’s main goal in providing these amendments is for fair and transparent elections,” said Linge in an interview with radio Ziniu Radijas on Tuesday. The adviser noted that the president seeks that not only natural persons could be prosecuted over election violations, but also legal entities. Grybauskaite also wants to enable the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) to revoke candidates’ registration before the Election Day, whereas currently the law stipulates that the VRK cannot cancel the registration of a party or a candidate 15 days before the election.

The Bank of Lithuania carried out a survey concerning the risks to Lithuania’s financial system, reports ELTA. The results show that the country’s financial system is perceived as stable, while the greatest risk to the system is posed by the debt issues of other European countries and the possible contagion effect in the Lithuanian economy. Financial institutions are also concerned about the price shock of energy resources and possibly Lithuania’s slow economic recovery. The importance of these external risk sources is fuelled by the fact that prevention measures in Lithuania are limited,” said Director of Financial Stability Department in Economics and Financial Stability Business Area, Bank of Lithuania Gediminas Simkus. Representatives of financial institutions also worry about the possible changes in the political environment in the country.