VILNIUS, May 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Lithuanian companies operating in Ukraine and Russia bear losses because of the current events in Ukraine and damaged trade ties with the two countries, say experts at the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.
“One Lithuanian company in five whose business is connected to the Ukrainian market, and each third company tied with the Russian market, have admitted these losses,” analyst Alexander Izgorodin told journalists on Tuesday.
The negative factors pressing Lithuanian business, he added, were the narrowing consumer market, declining exchange rates in the two countries, logistic problems, delayed payments, non-implementation of contracts and the absence of new agreements. Food, chemical and electronics companies suffered the most.
However, export trends in the two countries differ. While exports to Ukraine dropped 37%, negative in almost all segments, Lithuanian exports to Russia have increased 12% this year, according to the Confederation’s estimates. Yet this is largely a result of considerable food exports.
The country’s export to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus makes up 90% of its entire exports to CIS states and 32% of the entire foreign trade.
Chairman of the parliamentary budget and finance committee Bronius Bradauskas had earlier aired his forecast for Lithuania’s monetary losses in 2014 estimating them at €1 billion given the now weaker economic ties with Russia and Ukraine and the government’s stance on the Ukrainian crisis.