Lithuania leads investment in Kaliningrad

Lithuania is the leading foreign investor in the Kaliningrad region, the Russian enclave's governor, Vladimir Yegorov, told a forum of Lithuanian and Russian businessmen there March 31. Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus was in the audience at the end of his official visit to Russia.

Yegorov noted that 11 new joint Lithuanian-Russian companies had been established during the first three months of 2001, bringing the gross Lithuanian investment in the region to nearly $100 million.

"The joint companies and the efforts of the local administration has helped to pull down the unemployment rate," the Kaliningrad governor told the forum.

The governor noted that Kaliningrad and Lithuania would remain good neighbors.

"I believe we have made the right decision by appointing Sergey Overko, a resident of Lithuania, as Kaliningrad's envoy in the country," Yegorov said. "In spite of the fact that Overko holds Lithuanian citizenship, he is a proper representative of the Russian region and works hard to develop cooperation, especially in the economic sphere."

The head of Kaliningrad Port Administration, Georgy Sebov, said that the ports of Kaliningrad and Lithuania's Klaipeda should become key topics for further cooperation.

"We have prepared a cooperation program for the two ports, so that they can develop successfully amid the harsh competition around the Baltic Sea," said Sebov.

However, he added that Kaliningrad and Klaipeda should set equal tariffs.

Lithuania's exports in Kaliningrad totaled $67.41 million last year, indicating an 11.3 percent increase since 1999.

Imports from the Russian enclave reached $25.12 million in 2000, swelling threefold since the previous year.

A total of 322 joint Lithuanian-Kaliningrad companies were registered in the region in 1999, placing Lithuania second to Poland in that respect.

Kaliningrad's economic entities owe Lithuanian companies and budgetary institutions almost $15 million and another $10.1 million in fines.