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– Asked about the first 100 working days of the Government, the Prime Minister replied that it was one of the most difficult days of her life. How would you answer?
– Yes, one of the most difficult for me too. For me, as the leader of the Freedom Party, the election campaign was not easy either. Since our capabilities were greatly underestimated and we had to work a lot. But now I have a great responsibility that I take very seriously.
The fact that a pandemic is a historical event and has many consequences for business forces me to make very important decisions. It is an extraordinary situation, but I have no doubt that we will overcome it, because Lithuania is concentrated.
– What was the hardest part of your job in 100 days?
– It must be said that there were very high expectations. There is a lot of hope in our Government. People want a quick change. Our voters expect more freedom in quarantine regulation. We need to reconcile these positions and make concessions. This is not easy. But governments around the world are facing it.
– Are the current quarantine restrictions not too strict?
– We, the Ministry of Economy, see the business position and monitor the situation, that is why we have submitted proposals to the Ministry of Health, for example, for outdoor cafes. The spread of the British variety in Vilnius and Marijampolė is worrying. We can be glad that we were able to make some decisions to ease the quarantine, which is why we allowed beginners to return to schools on Wednesday. Without forgetting any area, we have the opportunity to ease the quarantine little by little.
– Don’t you feel helpless when it’s not you but the expert advice that decides?
– Decided by the Government. The Board of Experts provides an advisory view. Sometimes we make different decisions than those advised by the council.
For example, the use of masks is not tightened. Some experts have been skeptical about the liberalization of the markets, but they are already open. The Lithuanian economy is doing very well, but there are sectors particularly affected: hotels, tourism, sports clubs, entertainment and events. We need to learn to live with the virus, but we want to give companies hope that we will not close forever.
– The hotels staged a protest because, according to them, except for downtime, they did not receive any support during the year. In terms of business support, his government is more critical than the previous one. What would you answer to that?
– It is strange and badly written that accommodation and catering establishments did not receive any state aid during the year. Here’s a pebble for both governments.
Soft loans are state aid and can be used in the same way as grants. I understand and see for myself that the pace of grants should be faster. We talk about this both in public and in closed-door meetings with the authorities that administer the aid.
If we look at the subsidies distributed during the second quarantine, the catering and accommodation establishments are surpassed only by the commercial establishments that have benefited from this support. I certainly understand that it is not easy and the future of this sector is uncertain, but we are ready to talk.
– You said this week that you will try to change the support ceiling. What are you going to do?
– Of course, we cannot change the European regulation on state aid, because there are certain restrictions. However, we can raise the support ceiling during the second subsidy phase, which is currently 100,000. euros. For some companies, this is a lot of money, but for companies that run large hotels, it is an insufficient amount.
We will evaluate if we can raise the ceiling, because resources are limited, we only have 70 million. euros. Because we see that 50 million is claimed in the first package of grants. and with a total value of 150 million, we do not rule out this possibility. But I say this with caution. The second aid package is for those most affected. For those whose billing fell by 60 percent. and more, this is what I hope companies in this sector can take advantage of.
– Is a third package being prepared? He probably needs it too.
– We cannot answer this question yet. As vaccination and testing volumes increase, we are in a better position in terms of medical resources. I am optimistic and believe that a successful vaccination could release more activities. But if the quarantine is delayed, the state will have to help closed businesses, so I am not ruling out this possibility.
– Sometimes we hear from companies that there are too many savings during this crisis. What is your position?
– If we look at our GDP, how much we have a deficit and how much money we have already invested in the economy, we will see that the figures are not so small. I listen to that opinion, but it is important for us to do everything responsibly. We hear from the Bank of Lithuania that the other side of the coin is the growth of deposits in commercial banks, so we do not want to overheat the economy. I repeat: we have the sectors affected and we know exactly where the aid will go.
– Last week, you said the authorities were too attached to those seeking support. Still not satisfied with the pace of the support?
– Let’s say this: based on more than 11 thousand. companies, paid 25 million. and claimed 50 million euros. euros. Paid to half of the applicant companies. These are not very bad numbers. However, I am concerned that support from companies claiming small sums is stagnant.
I called not to wait too long, to evaluate the risks, to trust and to pay the maintenance because the smallest are the hardest. Clearly, we want institutions to be proactive in identifying problems, as this subsidy package is more complex than previous governments. We support not only micro-businesses, but also those with several hundred employees. As a result, both the quantities and volumes are higher. Political decisions have already been made, now it is a matter of administrative success.
– There is a lot of fuss in society for those 257 euros. People say that it is impossible to earn a living with such an amount. From what I heard, there were promises to raise that amount. What is the situation here?
– This is more of an issue administered by the Ministry of Social Security and Labor. I totally agree that losing income by such an amount is very difficult to survive. Therefore, we have approved the concept of assistance to individual workers. It will be possible to apply at the end of March. It will be a one-time help, but we hope to help some people cover some of the costs.
– President, you and several other government representatives will travel to Ukraine and will travel. There will take place a business forum. What are our expectations and interests here?
– Of course, Ukraine is our girlfriend not only in terms of values. Your market is also important to us. There is already a lot of our business there. We would like to see more and mutual exchanges. It is very important to talk about economic resilience, which this government has planned.
I will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Digital Transformation, Mr. Mikhail Albertovich Fyodorov. We will also talk about the Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, which is not only an important geopolitical project but also an economic one. We look forward to having productive meetings and discussions starting from this visit.
– Whose position do you support, President or Minister Dulkis, in the debate on vaccination with Astra Zeneca?
– A provocative question. I hope that we will soon receive conclusions and recommendations from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the way forward. I trust the vaccine. My grandfather has been vaccinated with Astra Zeneca and he feels great. If I have the opportunity, they will vaccinate me. The most important thing is to gain massive immunity, increase the scope of vaccination so that we can get back to life. It won’t be what it used to be, but I hope it’s freer.
– What are your economic policy and business support priorities for the coming months?
– We talk a lot about business support, but we in the Ministry of Economy are planning quite serious reforms, which will give impetus to perhaps not four, but ten years.
We are talking about institutional reform of innovation, we will create an agency. We will try not to expand the bureaucratic apparatus, but to use resources, concentrate them, strengthen them so that companies can access infrastructure and cooperate effectively with science.
One of the next jobs of the innovation reform is that Lithuania will join the associate members of the European Space Agency. This means that companies operating in the video surveillance industry will have development opportunities. Well, of course, digitization: all infrastructure, open data. We need to fundamentally change the paradigm. From proximity to openness.
