The Head of INVEGA meets the President: discusses business financing and the role in Ukraine reconstruction projects
On 23 April, the Head of INVEGA Dainius Vilčinskas discussed new financial opportunities for business, and the financing of the defence industry in cooperation with Ukraine at a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
According to the President, INVEGA has done an important job by implementing an internal consolidation process, and the next step is to fill the company with financial resources and to provide relevant measures targeting small and large businesses, exporters, infrastructure development, the defence industry and agricultural entities.
President Nausėda: ‘Today, the institution performing the national bank development function is moving in the right and very ambitious direction. At the moment, we are not exploiting the full potential of production in Lithuania and our maximum GDP growth potential, so INVEGA’s decisions to remove certain barriers, such as access to capital, are timely’.
More than EUR 2 billion of new financial instruments for the Lithuanian economy is expected in 2024. EUR 1 million will be provided for smart business. The President stressed the importance of the efficient and full use of these loan funds from the EU’s Economic Recovery and Resilience Facility. INVEGA is accepting applications for the ‘Billion for Business’ facility from 29 April, and defence industry companies can also apply for funding.
Vilčinskas: ‘We agreed that there is still a shortage of instruments for financing growth capital. We will look for ways to attract private capital funds so that various companies will want to invest in Lithuania’.
During the meeting, Vilčinskas presented the President with the plans to develop new capital financing instruments, which could be used by defence companies that are not only at the start-up stage, but also at an advanced growth stage.
‘The country’s defence sector is relatively small and so far, there has been more interest in investing in the production of dual-purpose products, but the situation is changing and there are more and more companies and investors who want to develop only security and defence products’, he said.
The meeting also discussed measures for Lithuanian businesses cooperating with Ukraine: in addition to the existing export guarantees and loan guarantees for Lithuanian companies, it was agreed to coordinate a new provision in the Law on State Debt of the Republic of Lithuania, so that Lithuanian companies participating in the reconstruction processes in Ukraine or Ukrainian companies purchasing from Lithuanian producers could be guaranteed the fulfilment of such financial obligations.
‘The reconstruction of Ukraine's economy and infrastructure is a priority task, which is undoubtedly both a challenge and an opportunity in which we must help Lithuanian business to actively participate’ said the President.
INVEGA’s financial instruments are estimated to generate an additional 1% of GDP each year.
Photos by Robertas Dačkus
