A. Butkevičius: Without the Government’s energy crisis management plan, Lithuania is “successfully” on its way to a deep recession – Respublika.lt
Algirdas Butkevičius, a member of the Seimas of the “Vardan Lietuvos” faction of the Democratic Union, says that the energy crisis is pushing people into poverty, and the inaction and incompetence of the Government into despair. According to him, with the growing cost of living crisis of the population, rising electricity and gas prices and approaching the winter season, Governments must take urgent action so that the most vulnerable people do not find themselves in a desperate situation.
Member of the Seimas Algirdas Butkevičius. Photo of Elta.
According to the parliamentarian, today’s situation in energy requires state regulation, and Lithuania does not even have a crisis management plan yet.
“The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have encouraged the member states of the European Union to look for opportunities to provide financial assistance to the companies and residents of their country. France, Germany, and other European Union countries are taking specific measures in order to control the energy crisis and mitigate its effects on businesses and residents. The Lithuanian government should take advantage of the experience of other countries and urgently submit its measures to combat the energy crisis”, says A. Butkevičius, deputy chairman of the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee.
He notes that the energy crisis will not end in the near future, the biggest challenge is yet to come, therefore the Government should provide a financial support package for this winter season, one-time payments for households, pensioners, disabled people, families, and families with financial difficulties, due to rising energy prices. children – additional one-off payments for each child.
“The energy crisis is destroying business. The price of raw materials is the same throughout the Community. In some countries, subsidized electricity prices seek the common EU market and reduce the competitiveness of Lithuanian producers who do not receive subsidies”, continues A. Butkevičius.
According to the member of the Seimas, Governments should make decisions in the near future that allow Lithuanian companies to receive soft loans, guarantees and subsidies: 1) ensuring short-term liquidity of companies; 2) developing a guarantee program so that companies can obtain working capital and investment loan guarantees. Such a program should be implemented until the end of 2023; 3) preparing an energy cost reduction program in order to reduce the rise in natural gas and electricity prices for particularly affected and energy-consuming companies.
According to A. Butkevičius, the government’s energy crisis management plan should provide for the regulation of energy prices by extraordinary measures, and should aim to control the increase in the regulated electricity tariff. In addition, in the opinion of the member of the Seimas, after evaluating the average retail price of fuel in the euro zone countries, it is necessary to determine the upper price of sold fuel in retail trade.
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