YoungAction for YouropeVision
LITHUANIA
Lithuania
Unitary Semi-Presidential Representative Democratic Republic
Reforms since the mid-1990s led to an open and rapidly growing economy.
Open to global trade and investment, Lithuania now enjoys high
degrees of business, fiscal, and financial freedom. Lithuania is a member
of the EU and the WTO, so regulation is relatively transparent and
efficient, with foreign and domestic capital subject to the same rules.
The financial sector is advanced, regionally integrated, and subject to
few intrusive regulations. {2}
Teo-Greece
One of Lithuania's most important reforms was the privatization of
state-owned assets. The first stage of privatization was being implemented
between 1991 and 1995. Citizens were given investment vouchers
worth €3.1 billion in nominal value, which let them participate in
assets selling. By October 1995, they were used as follows: 65% for acquisition
of shares; 19% for residential dwellings; 5% for agricultural
properties; and 7% remained unused. More than 5,700 enterprises with
€2.0 billion worth of state capital in book value were sold using four initial
privatization methods: share offerings; auctions; best business
plans competitions; and hard currency sales.{3}