President: we must ensure that Lithuania receives all RRF funds

VILNIUS – With Lithuania delaying to adopt some tax laws and risking losing part of the European Union’s (EU) Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds, President Gitanas Nauseda says it is necessary to ensure that Lithuania receives all the funds earmarked for the country under the RRF.

"We need to pull together and make sure that the full amount of the EU's RRF investment reaches the Lithuanian economy and boosts its productivity and resilience when it is needed most,” he said at a press conference held on Friday after a meeting with European Commission Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.

Dombrovskis earlier told BNS that a tax reform is an important part of RRF support to Lithuania. In addition, he said, there are concrete milestones and targets to be met in order to unlock the RRF financing.

The European Commission has already transferred more than half a billion euros to Lithuania this year, but withheld 26 million euros due to the country's failure to "satisfactorily fulfill two milestones related to taxation".

Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste said in mid-May that if the government-proposed tax reform got stuck, Brussels would suspend payouts to Lithuania under the EU RRF plan, and the amount of unpaid funds would be much higher than the 26 million euros currently withheld.