The second attempt to use European billions: the Ministry of Finance has defined where to expect a rain of money

The NKL prepared by the Ministry of Finance foresees investments in three main directions: in the green course, the digital agenda and the implementation of the recommendations of the Council of Europe.

“When we talk about what a new generation of Lithuania could or should be, we really mean the same things and the same direction,” says Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė and mentioned a fairer, smarter, greener Lithuania, which create and grow.

He assured that this 2,225 million. The € 20 billion plan is not the ‘world’s last money’ as the total funding for progress will be € 16 billion by 2030. of which the “lion’s share” consists of structural financing instruments. The Minister pointed out that the new plan will represent only one seventh of the funds earmarked for progress.

“Each of the funds has specific financing characteristics that are very different from the others. When preparing the NKL Plan, we relied on the Government Program and, since the Government was approved at the end of December, we also began to prepare a new Government Implementation Plan at the same time. (…) It is natural that everything in this plan is what the new Government plans to implement ”, explained G. Skaistė.

Green transformation will require up to 37 percent of the plan’s funds: 823 million. euros. Investment in digitization is projected to account for 20%, or € 445 billion. euros. Education, health, the labor market and social inclusion, innovation and science continue.

G. Skaistė hinted that the structure of investments was determined by European requirements, the proportions were established in the regulation.

The Minister said that changes will be sought in the tax system so that they are socially fair and contribute to the budget, increase the efficiency of the quality of the educational system, the accessibility and efficiency of the health system, as well as the development of innovations. .

Expectations for the DNA plan are said to be unfounded.

The previous government, with the inclusion of part of the EC funds, had prepared a DNA Plan for the Future Economy last year, but it was later repealed by the new government.

Speaking about the DNA plan, G. Skaistė emphasized that the projects included in the previous plan were not appropriate reforms coordinated by the European Commission.

“Personally, I very much regret the expectations of those people who expected funding from the so-called DNA plan, where the previous government has formed a field of expectations that one or another project will receive funds from this fund,” said G. Skaistė.

According to her, negotiations with the European Commission revealed that the previously proposed funding did not lead to any reform, and such funding could not be provided because it would not have been agreed by the EC.

“We are proposing appropriate reforms,” ​​emphasized G. Skaistė, noting that the measures proposed by the EC representatives had already been discussed. He also promised that previous projects can expect funding from other financial instruments.

While the opposition criticized that Lithuania was investing too little in the medium term, G. Skaistė admitted that the funds would actually reach the economy in a few years.

“The greatest intensity is likely to be in 2023-2024. (…) Certain funds will enter the economy already this year, it will not be a big part ”, admitted G. Skaistė.

According to her, in 2023, Lithuania will likely not have the opportunity to run a large budget deficit, so the economy will be able to stimulate itself evenly.

“This plan is a set of reforms, and to turn it into a set of projects it is necessary to go through several stages,” explained G. Skaistė.

According to her, the main difference between the DNA and NKL plans is that the former was short-lived, planned until the end of this year.

“The DNA plan only contemplated short-term projects, in this case we are presenting a long-term plan that involves a much greater amount of money,” says the Minister of Finance.

According to her, about a quarter of the measures of the DNA plan can be transferred in full, some of the projects will be transformed and not fully implemented.

Although the intensity of funding reaches 100%, Lithuania will additionally contribute to EU funds from the budget to achieve ambitious goals, explained G. Skaistė.

The draft plan will be presented to the European Commission for evaluation in May, after which it is expected to be approved in August.

Sbrought millions to green energy

In the direction of green transformation 218 million. will travel to the renovation and innovation of various apartments in the construction sector.

Investments will be made in transportation: 124 million. 172 million euros for electric vehicle charging stations and alternative fuel stations; € 1 million will be allocated for the replacement of polluting vehicles.

130 million Euros 51 million are foreseen for the production of solar and wind energy. EUR to promote the production of alternative fuels, such as biofuels, biomethane, hydrogen. According to G. Skaistė, this will include studies of the seabed.

The investment will aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2005.

Millions to the digitization of the Lithuanian language

According to the new NKl plan, the largest amount of funds in the direction of digitization is planned for the development of electronic services – 149 million. euros. € 102 million will be allocated to the digitization of the Lithuanian language and digital innovations in business (artificial intelligence, block circuit, automation, etc.).

It is planned to allocate 95 million LTL for the transformation, centralization and consolidation of the state IT. euros.

“The main goal was to create all the databases and collections that we have in the state so that they could communicate with each other, so that they could exchange data, so that people needed to provide data only once,” explained G. Skaistė.

They will also invest in the development of connectivity in remote areas and the conditions for the deployment of 5G (49 million euros), open, reliable and real-time data (31 million euros).

“Covering white spots all over Lithuania so that the connection is everywhere,” said G. Skaistė.

The changes that the investment is seeking are to reach 20th place on the global innovation index (now – 40th place), as well as 10th place on the digital economy and society index (now – 14th place).

It will implement recommendations to strengthen education, health and the labor market.

Funding for the implementation of the Council’s recommendations will go to education and science, health, the labor market and poverty reduction.

A large portion of the new plan’s funding will go to education. EUR 251 million will be allocated to optimizing the school network, improving the quality of teaching: infrastructure, equipment, teachers’ skills.

These funds are used to improve student achievement according to an international methodology.

Another 37 million. Euros will be needed for the renewal of vocational training programs, support for companies to accept apprenticeships, etc.

Funding for science and innovation will focus on fostering scientific and business cooperation through mission-oriented research and innovation (€ 146 million). For 36 million. The quality of higher education will be improved. For 19 million. € 1 billion will strengthen the institutions responsible for innovation and stimulate demand for innovation.

In the field of health, 154 million. This will include a cluster of infectious diseases in 5 cities and 10 regional hospital admissions. 89 million will focus on digitization, advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence or telemedicine.

Average life expectancy is expected to increase from 76 to 81 years.

102 million in the labor market. EUR will go towards the acquisition of high value-added skills and competences, subsidies for job creation for the unemployed.

The overall at-risk-of-poverty rate is expected to drop to 14%, from 20.6%. And the population’s employment rate will reach 75 percent, instead of the existing 70.7 percent, according to the draft plan.

Part of a € 750 billion package

The EC launched a new € 750 billion recovery and resilience mechanism on May 20 last year in response to the economic and social consequences of COVID-19.

According to him, a total of 2,225 million is provided for Lithuania. For grants up to EUR 3 billion. Loans in euros. Funding will last until 2026. Fall.

These funds can be used to finance structural reforms, promote economic recovery, prioritizing green and digital transformation.

The new support is included in the Government’s National Strategic Plan for Progress, which aims to invest a total of 16,000 million euros, of which 11,000 million euros. European programs will provide.