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According to him, due to the crisis in Belarus, all the neighbors are receiving requests from the country’s IT companies to relocate businesses.
“We also have more than 60 companies in Lithuania (and their number is growing every day) that are interested in investing in Lithuania. About 30 are large, with more than 100 employees, technologically advanced and globally recognized (…). Approximately 1,600 employees would leave, plus their families. If we consider that there are at least two people in the family, we will have at least 2-3 thousand people who would consider moving to Lithuania, “said M. Katinas at the government meeting last week.
According to him, these companies face various difficulties and have presented to the Council of Ministers five substantive proposals that would facilitate their plans.
It is proposed to allow an employer to validate an employee’s qualifications when paid less than 1.5 times the average salary, waiving the current requirement of five years of professional experience and the decision of the Employment Service.
Invest in Lithuania also offers to allow the receipt of the necessary documents and biometric data in Belarus, in the original language.
The introduction of a new framework for migration is also requested, to allow the entry of IT professionals, marketers, managers, administrators and other professions, as well as their families. The public body emphasizes that currently there is no relocation procedure for the entire company with employees, since now the migration possibilities of each of them are evaluated separately.
It is proposed that Lithuania also exclude the requirement of two years of residence in Lithuania for employees to be able to invite family members.
Another proposal is to facilitate coronavirus detection procedures, that is, to allow arriving Belarusians to undergo COVID-19 testing in Lithuania or at least at a mobile border checkpoint.
Attention is drawn to the fact that with increasing interest, the current resources of the institution providing consultations to the visitors “Renkuosi Lietuvai” may not be sufficient, so more consultants should be employed, also in the Department of Migration and the Lithuanian Embassy in Belarus.
“Investing in Lithuania” calls for the creation of conditions for the children of incoming employees to study in the country’s schools, as well as offers to provide up to 200,000. grants to large companies to cover relocation costs, including staff coronavirus screening.
According to Katin, relocation is particularly hampered by lengthy procedures for opening accounts and receiving financial services here, as banks also demand documents from official Belarusian authorities.
“Inter-institutional cooperation is needed to find, together with private banks and the Bank of Lithuania, the possibility of having a process that is safe, but still adapted to the current situation, when no one in Belarus can easily find apostles in state institutions” Katin emphasized.
The biggest difficulties are with the opening of accounts.
The Minister of Economy and Innovation, Rimantas Sinkevičius, stated that until now the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing does not provide for the possibility for third-country nationals to open an account without being physically present in Lithuania. Minister Saulius Skvernelis emphasized that this is “one of the biggest obstacles” for Belarusian companies.
“A change in the law is needed, and this session will try to reconcile and achieve that change. Until there is such a change, I do not see another legal way to open an account. When the account is not opened, it is impossible to register the company, when there is no company, it is impossible to invite people from Belarus and the relocation of the company is stopped – this is used by our neighbors to the south and north, ”said R. Sinkevičius.
At that time, the Ministry of Finance was convinced that it was not necessary to change the law.
“The FNTT, the Ministry of the Interior, the Bank of Lithuania and the Banking Association must sit at one table. Because everything depends on whether the FNTT does not open cases for everyone, everything depends on that. This is the Interior Minister, everything is at his disposal, it is necessary to organize a meeting to resolve the problem, ”said Finance Minister Vilius Šapoka.
Interior Minister Rita Tamašunienė says that the legal acts provide for the possibility of opening an account not only in credit institutions, but also in electronic money institutions.
“Maybe that’s worth thinking about,” he said.
According to her, as of this week, highly qualified foreigners can already submit applications for temporary residence at a distance, and it is no longer necessary to submit biometric data in advance. The same is being considered for family members or other low-skilled employees of such workers.
According to R. Tamašunienė, all the mentioned problems for relocation do not arise for companies if employees are transferred to a company established in Lithuania. It also says that, at present, a guarantee from the employer or “Invest in Lithuania” that the employee meets high qualification requirements is sufficient, even if the employee does not have a higher education diploma, promising a period of tolerance to allow that those documents are submitted in a longer period.
“We have also reached a compromise with the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the means of subsistence: they will be reduced, calculated for three months and an MMA for a month and a half for a minor,” the minister reported.
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