Development In Lithuania Research Articles

HR function developments in Lithuania

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of past and current developments in human resource (HR) function in Lithuania.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses the antecedents of HR function developments in Lithuania through an analysis of the country's demographic, economic, legal and cultural environments and historical human resource management (HRM) developments. Current HR function status is shown through findings of an HR manager/specialist survey conducted at 119 medium‐ and large‐sized organisations, which was part of the 2008‐2009 Cranet survey.FindingsThe majority of organisations have HRM departments and an HR strategy, and in about half HR is represented on the board and is involved to some extent in business strategy development. HR responsibility is shared by line management and HR function. About 90 per cent of organisations have a mission statement and a business strategy. Trade union power is currently low due to historic and political reasons; however, findings show that it is gaining more status. About half of the organisations have developed corporate social responsibility policies, though few offer non‐statutory social welfare schemes. Reward individualisation is higher among private‐sector employers. Downward communication is used to a considerable extent by both private and public organisations, while upward communication is more extensively practised by private‐sector organisations.Practical implicationsThe paper discloses current HR function developments in Lithuania based on its historical heritage, antecedents in macro/micro environments and empirical data, which provide valuable insights for local organisations and foreign investors into current HRM status.Originality/valueThe paper discloses the influences on HR function developments and their current status in Lithuania, which are still under‐researched in the country, and contributes to HRM research in the Central and East Europe region.

Conceptualising the Rise of the Rural Community Movement in Lithuania: A Framework for Analysis

Conceptualising the Rise of the Rural Community Movement in Lithuania: A Framework for Analysis This paper develops a framework for analysing the process of rural community development and institutionalisation in Lithuania. The first communal groups were established in rural Lithuania in the late 1990s. Over the last decade the number of such organisations in the country increased to 1,400. Although a very positive development, rapidly growing grass-roots activism has often led to a complex process of cooperation, conflict, competition and negotiation among the newly-created community groups and existing state agencies, non-governmental organisations, political parties, and various rural and urban interests. The model identifies four arenas of contention and negotiation, in which the newly-created communal groups have attempted to claim legitimacy and define their role in the social, economic and political life of the country: the public sphere, formalised (state financed and delivered) culture, social services' provision, and commercial (profitable) activities. Strategies of rural activists and their effectiveness in each of the four arenas of institutionalisation are examined. The contributions, as well as weaknesses, of the rural community development in promoting rural development in Lithuania are discussed.

SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF ECONOMIC DOWNTURN (2008) IN LITHUANIA

The world economic recession has a significant adverse impact on social economic development in Lithuania. The article aims at assessing the possible long-term social consequences of the economic downturn in Lithuania if no actions are taken from the Government, as well as at designing recommendations on the implementation of measures with a view to mitigate the consequences of the recession.The article analyses various social economic indicators in Lithuania with the aim to highlight the impact of the recent economic downturn on different aspects of living standards in the country. The article seeks to provide evidence on the critical need to address social problems in Lithuania as well as to outline the next steps to be taken to mitigate the negative consequences of the economic downturn.The analysis has shown that in Lithuania, the major negative social consequences of the economic decline for the population manifest themselves in job losses and income decrease, which in turn result in the rising long-term unemployment, growing social exclusion, higher emigration and other negative consequences. With regard to this, long-term negative consequences of the economic recession could be mitigated by addressing two vital issues, namely job losses and a decrease in household income in Lithuania.

LEADING PRIORITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGH TECHNOLOGIES MARKET

High technologies development has strategic importance to improving regional EU and national economies effectiveness and assuring a country's competitiveness. This is especially a key priority for small countries that do not have many natural and material resources, as well as labour force. Therefore, in the article the specifics of high technologies development that derives from exceptional high technologies features is analysed. These specific features of high technologies influence the rise of specific characteristics of high technologies market. Thus, the article aims to set leading priorities for a successful development of high technologies business in Lithuania. Development of the high technologies business depends first of all on development of the high technologies market. The success of developing high technologies depends on implementation of the ‘ triple helix’ model covering integration of the public and private sector as well as science. The most successful’ triple helix’ model for high technologies development is the one where the highest degree of cooperation between authorities, industry and academic public is indicated. Therefore the article establishes the implementation of the ‘ triple helix’ as a leading priority for high technologies development in Lithuania.

Sustainable Development across Central and Eastern Europe: Key Factors Driving the Economic Growth of the Countries

Sustainable development is the leading concept of our days, and it is measured by a number of various indicators. The paper analyses sustainable development indicators (Eurostat database), taking Central and Eastern Europe as the research object. The suggested hypothesis implies that, in a particular region, there might be a set of sustainable development indicators reflecting the factors strongly influencing GDP. The results obtained outline the main issues relating to economic development of Lithuania and other Central and Eastern European countries and demonstrate similar development trends in the region.

Sustainable Development in Lithuania: Between The Government Agenda and the Undiscovered Civil Society

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKeywords: national strategies for sustainable developmentgovernancepublic policysocial capitalpublic participationLithuaniasustainable development Acknowledgements I would like to thank Aleh Cherp (Central European University, Hungary) for the primary inspiration to work on this issue, Romualdas Juknys (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania) for his kind invitation to be a part of the Review Panel of National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Lithuania, and Renata Dagiliūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania) and Alessandro Bonifazi (Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy) for insightful comments. I would like to extend my thanks to David Galbreath (University of Aberdeen, UK) for his invitation to publish in the Journal of Baltic Studies, and to Timofey Agarin (University of Aberdeen, UK) and the two anonymous peer-reviewers for help and suggestions. I am grateful to Julia Leventon (Central European University, Hungary) and Matt Bond for proofreading. All the interpretations in the essay are my own and I bear the sole responsibility for mistakes. Notes Notes 1 Environmental Centre For Administration and Technology (ECAT), Appeal to the state institutions, the President, the Parliament and the Government of Lithuania signed by the participants of the conference ‘Contemporary aspects of the implementation of local sustainability’ organized by the Environmental Centre for Administration and Technology, 30–31 October 2003. 2 Interview with A. Alijošiūtė, director of Environmental Centre for Administration and Technology (ECAT), 18 July 2007, Kaunas, Lithuania. 3 Žinių Radijas [News Radio of Lithuania], Antradienio ‘Raktas’. Darnus vystymasis: ar strategija virsta praktika? [Tuesday's broadcast ‘Key’. Sustainable Development: does the strategy become practice?]. With participation of R. Pakalnis, co-author of the NSSD of Lithuania and member of the Review Panel of NSSD of Lithuania. Broadcast on 5 June 2007, available at: http://www.ziniur.lt/apie/pranesimai?item=1219, accessed 16 January 2009.

BUILDING A FRAMEWORK FOR NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT AND APPLICATION FOR LITHUANIA: SUSTAINABILITY IN TRANSITION

This study aims to assess the outcomes of the transition period in terms of sustainable development in Lithuania in 1990–2004. The author aims to reveal the synergies and contradictions between the period of transition and the progress to sustainability. The research uses the conceptual framework for assessment of progress towards achieving sustainable development (APASD) for economies in transition (Kobus, 2005). The framework is based on three principles of sustainable development: the principle of carrying capacity, the principle of intergenerational equity and the principle of intragenerational equity. A three-tier system has been formed: each principle has been assigned two operational criteria and a number of sustainable development indicators. Finally, the framework has been applied to Lithuania unveiling the situation of sustainability and providing recommendations for policy response. The transition period has moved the national development closer to sustainability according to the principles of carrying capacity and intergenerational equity; however, it has not been so favourable for the principle of intragenerational equity.

Existentialism in Lithuania

Philosophical trends such as the philosophy of religion, especially Thomism, existentialism, and phenomenology emerged in Lithuanian philosophy during the 20th century. The article discusses the chief preconditions of the spread of existentialism, in particular the dominant Christian existentialism, in Lithuania and its influence on Lithuanian culture. The best known representatives of this philosophical trend were J. Girnius and A. Maceina. There are two periods of existentialism and its development in Lithuania: the first one includes the independence years and the second covers the time of the Soviet occupation. The author discusses its influence on Lithuanian literature and introduces the main problems of existential philosophy.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT DETERMINED INNOVATION DIFFUSION CHANNELS IN LITHUANIA

The prevailing opinion in Lithuania is that the country‘s economic growth was determined by the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI). Their influence on the Lithuanian economy remains unquestionable, however, there is a tendency to overestimate their impact, while otherfactors are under-estimated or ignored completely when conclusions on their influence on the country‘s economy are drawn. Based on the data of the Department of Statistics of Lithuania, Eurostat, other agencies and the analysis of the research of Lithuanian and foreign academics on FDI, and the impact of the innovations on the country‘s economy, the given study presents the analysis of the three main channels for the technological and innovation diffusion, which have exercised a decisive influence on the economic development in Lithuania over the last decade. They are foreign direct investments, international trade, and the country‘s knowledge capital. These diffusion channels were considerably important in the transition period, however, the creation of original knowledge and innovations, or the creative application of the technology created in other countries and application of the knowledge gained abroad was utilised least. In Lithuania,, the creation and adoption of extended modifying innovations and technologies was dominant in terms of innovation modes, while the strategic innovations were created by only 1 percent of Lithuanian enterprises . A comparative analysis of surveys, statistical data, and academic studies was conducted and lead to the conclusion that the main technology and innovation diffusion channel, as well as the main driving force behind Lithuania‘s economy during the transitional period of 1996–2007 was neithert FDI nor the scientific potential of the country, but rather the international trade. In addition, the data suggests that the country‘s scientific potential was ill-prepared for the changes brought on by globalisation and had a very weak impact on the growth of the Lithuanian economy and the economy‘s technological and innovational reorientation, which led to the enterprises searching for other possible sources of innovation. The model for the creation of innovation eacompassing state institutions, the science community and enterprises was not functional during the said period in Lithuania.

Dahlia Mosaic-Associated Caulimoviruses in Dahlia in Lithuania

In recent years, field floriculture development in Lithuania has been given increased attention particularly for the benefit of small family farms that produce seedlings of perennial ornamentals for the domestic market and for export to the neighboring countries. To better understand the incidence and diversity of caulimoviruses recently reported in dahlia, the authors further investigated new Lithuanian dahlia cultivars for the presence of various caulimoviruses using species-specific primers and polymerase chain reaction. Accepted for publication 16 December 2009. Published 2 March 2009.

The Study of Quality Certification System of Lithuania

This article analyses the quality certification, standardization, market and technical barriers to trade relations problems. Certification system and quality management tools development in Lithuania and international context are also analysed. It gives a study of the processes in place designed to normalise international standards, technical regulations and rules in the light of current global economic conditions. The models of Market, standardization and certification relations, Standardization space and typology and National quality certification system are presented in the article. The resultant generalisations and suggestions have been made based on the author‘s research of Lithuanian enterprises. Worldwide economic globalisation processes and the development of international trade have necessitated rapid quality internationalisation processes, as they are crucial in defining the quality of a product or company. These processes mean that more countries are keeping to unified standards and technical regulations, quality and environmental management systems, quality satisfaction evaluation and certification procedures. With their help, it is hoped that not only will the quality of goods and services be assured on an international scale, but that their implementation will lead to the elimination of technical barriers to trade. The main task of this article is to analyze and systemize quality certification, standardization, regulation tools that are used in the Lithuania and international trade, and to present the providence of the more effective usage of them. Technical barriers to international trade are becoming increasingly pervasive because there is a lot of variance in how these technical rules are applied in manufacturing and agriculture, where, in order to guarantee the production of pure and healthy food products, many countries have come up with especially strict and restrictive rules. Given the existing complicated and nonuniform rules, their systematisation is very difficult to achieve. The author suggests technical barriers to trade be divided into five groups. The certification system of Lithuania involves products, organizations and employees conformity assessment. Apart from “traditional” quality (ISO 9001) and environment (ISO 14001) management systems Lithuanian companies use other systems – ISO 22000, ISO/IEC 20000 GMP, ISO/IEC 17021:2006, ISO/TS 16949, ISO/IEC 27001, CMMI, BRC Global Standard, etc. Vehicle technical inspection and jewellery quality hallmarking performed by Lithuanian Assay Office are also a part of product certification activity. It must be highlighted that enterprises in Lithuania do not certify their products to the conformity of EU quality mark (Key Mark) requirements and not develop environmental management system EMAS yet. Nowadays quality management systems (QMS) are implemented no only in business enterprises, but also in hospitals, high education institutions, police departments, city municipalities and other public sector institutions of Lithuania. Although the amount of organizations that use quality management systems ISO 9001 is rising in Lithuania still there are some problems to be solved. However quantitative evaluation of noted indicator is not very informative. That is why the author uses the relative index – the number of ISO 9001 certificates per 1000 citizen for better comparison. According to this index in the number of QMS certificates Lithuania wins behind against the USA, China and India, however signally falls against other new European Union countries. To reach the EU average of this index, Lithuania has to have more than 2000 certificated QMS. Thus, business organizations and state governmental institutions have every reason for the concern. The author provides recommendations for the development of the effective QMS, to improve all certification system of country and introduce the providences of quality management science development.

ETHICAL VALUES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: LITHUANIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALISATION / ETINĖS VERTYBĖS IR DARNUS VYSTYMASIS: LIETUVOS PATIRTIS GLOBALIZACIJOS KONTEKSTE

The article overviews the ethical aspects of sustainable development in Lithuania under the conditions of globalisation. With reference to the accumulated theoretical and practical material, evaluating the principles of a sustainable development implementation and the systems of ethical behaviour, further development perspectives of sustainable development on the ethical plane in Lithuania are analysed. Spirituality plays a very important role because unique values and value orientations existing in every culture influence the worldview and life perception of members of the culture. The modern, dynamic lifetime determines rapid cultural changes and many‐sided influence of one culture on another and has significant impact on implementation of sustainable development principles in Lithuania. Santrauka Straipsnyje apžvelgiami etiniai darnaus vystymosi aspektai Lietuvoje globalizacijos kontekste. Remiantis surinkta teorine ir empirine medžiaga, vertinančia darnaus vystymosi principų įgyvendinimą etiniu aspektu, pateikiamos tų principų įdiegimo Lietuvoje gairės, paremtos etinėmis vertybėmis ir dvasingumu. Dvasingumas čia atlieka iš tiesų svarbų vaidmenį, nes unikalios vertybės ir vertybinės orientacijos, būdingos tam tikroms kultūroms, daro įtaką visuomenės narių pasaulio ir gyvenimo suvokimui. Modernus ir dinamiškas šiuolaikinis gyvenimas lemia sparčius kultūros pokyčius ir stiprina vienų kultūrų įtaką kitoms.

Le développement rural en Lituanie : entre désengagement de l'État, émergence d'une société civile et apprentissage des outils européens

Rural development in Lithuania: Between government withdrawal, the emergence of "civil society" and learning how to use European policy tools Dismantling the collectivistic model in the 1990s has led to strong social differentiation in rural societies and disrupted operations there. The generalized bankruptcy of the farms formed out of the privatization of kolkhozes and sovkhozes has resulted in unemployment and poverty. It has also destroyed social and cultural infrastructures, and seriously affected living conditions in the countryside. Despite this worrisome social and economic situation, rural policies have, during the first decade after the country's return to independence, exclusively focused on farming and modernizing commercial farms. Since Lithuania joined the EU in 2004, the government has been forced to formulate a policy in line with the EU's, which provides financial and technical support mainly through the LEADER initiative (Links between Actions for the Development of the Rural Economy). After an initial experimental phase (2004-2006) centered around funding educational projects, the program has, for the period 2007-2013, adopted a broad policy of diversifying economic activities and renovating villages by drawing on projects worked out by local action groups — the new public and private actors touted by the EU. A lack of democracy and institutional shortcomings at the district level limit this transfer of the European model. Light is shed on the growing importance of the "rural communities" and local action groups that sprung up in the countryside during the 1990s in reaction to reduced government support.

Lithuania’s Evolving Security and Defence Policy: Problems and Prospects

This article presents an analysis of the developments in Lithuania's security and defence policy (LSDP) since 1990, and makes an attempt at clarifying its main tendencies and prospects. Lithuania's SDP has been mainly shaped by the concerns of re-establishing the country's statehood and state sovereignty. The re-emerging Lithuanian state had not only to guarantee the preservation of national sovereignty, but also to create conditions favourable to radical legal and economic change. When considering the ways in which to reach these formidable goals, Lithuania has treated membership in NATO and EU as the means for the state's security. The process of access negotiations and then living up to the criteria for membership in these organizations led to a significant transformation of the state and the society. In regards to the security policy it led to the efforts of overcoming negative attitudes towards neighbouring states and accepting the idea of a collective security. In turn, this led to changes in the defence policy, replacing the idea of territorial defence to that of a collective defence and accordingly reforming the armed forces. Now a member of the EU and NATO, Lithuania has developed ambitions at becoming the leader of a region in spreading her experience of political and economic reforms to neighbouring eastern countries. Lithuania has supported the strengthening of the military dimension of EU, while being critical of the duplication of EU and NATO functions and capacities, and has linked her own security with the preservation of the strong transatlantic alliance.

Dollarization in Lithuania: An Econometric Approach

The paper analyses the factors driving dollarization in Lithuania during the period from December 1992 to August 2000. Starting with a brief overview of the major economic and political developments in Lithuania, the study attempts to model the process of dollarization by applying rigorous time series analysis. In particular, it investigates the long- and short-run properties of the relationship between the dollarization ratio and interest rates paid on domestic and foreign currency deposits. The study identifies a relatively stable cointegrating relationship between variables, whereby the dollarization ratio is negatively related to the interest rate spread. In the constructed vector error correction model, the deviations from the long-run relationship are found be significant for the dynamics of all three variables. Overall, the model explains the development of dollarization rather well. Simple specification of the model is possible when interest rates reflect the major economic and political events relevant to the process of dollarization.

Asmens investicijų į finansines priemones plėtros galimybės Lietuvoje

The article examines the development possibilities of personal financial investments and the importance to induce those investments in Lithuania. The links between personal finance, financial assets and personal financial investments are analyzed. The development of Lithuanian stock market is reviewed and the investment opportunities are revealed. The paper analyses the results of investors survey, explores the reasons for not investing and not saving behavior and the ways to foster investments into securities and to increase population’s interest in security market. The investment knowledge, skills and decisions regarding the selection of financial tools are assessed and the ways to induce the investments into securities are introduced. The potential of personal financial investments development in Lithuania – based on results of analysis of research data - is evaluated, the effective solutions that might foster the popularity of personal financial investments in our country are proposed. Article in Lithuanian. Asmens investicijų į finansines priemones plėtros galimybės Lietuvoje Santrauka. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos asmeninių finansinių investicijų plėtros Lietuvoje problemos ir skatinimo investuoti svarba. Analizuojamas asmeninių finansų, finansinio turto, asmens finansinių investicijų ryšys. Daug dėmesio skiriama Lietuvos vertybinių popierių rinkos plėtrai apibendrinti, atskleidžiamos investavimo galimybės. Analizuojami investuotojų apklausos rezultatai, identifikuojamos neinvestavimo ir netaupymo priežastys, vertinamos gyventojų žinios, investavimo įgūdžiai, investicinių priemonių pasirinkimo sprendimai, pateikiama siūlymų dėl investicijų į vertybinius popierius skatinimo. Remiantis tyrimo duomenų analizės rezultatais, vertinamas asmeninių finansinių investicijų plėtros Lietuvoje potencialas, siūlomi efektyvūs sprendimai, galintys teigiamai veikti asmeninių finansinių investicijų populiarumą šalyje. Reikšminiai žodžiai: asmeniniai finansai, asmeninės finansinės investicijos, vertybinių popierių rinka, finansinis turtas, taupymas, finansinės priemonės.

The Main Strategic Directions in Improving of Export Development in Lithuania

The article deals with the main problems of strate-gic directions of export selling and promotion. The ex-port development factors and their economic impact as well as efficiency of export enhancement and promotion tools up to now have not been examined enough from the viewpoint of strategy, though the special investiga-tion of the effectiveness of segregated export promotion tools are badly needed. Thus the different concepts on strategies, competitive advantages, marketing and in-ternational marketing are analyzed. The best practice on export enhancement and promotion used in different countries and published in scientific articles and books are overviewed. The analysis of the main statistical data on Lithuanian export has been provided in the form of figures and diagrams. The analysis led to the conclusion that Lithuanian exports after Lithuania’s entering EU were growing up and structure has been changed from export to Eastern markets to Western ones faster. The problems discovered are the structure of goods ex-ported: 25 percent of export remains on export of oil refining products, which heavily depends on Russian oil supply, composition of Lithuanian exports by technology level: high technology goods amount less than 10 per-cent and just about 20 percent of it is attributed to the high and medium quality products. The causes of such situation were weakness of Lithuanian Economic Devel-opment Agency (LEPA), not enough information on for-eign markets, low value added of exported goods, un-willingness of managers to take risk, lack of funds, very few logistic centers abroad, dependence on foreign dis-tributors, intentional delays and underdevelopment of export insurance and export enhancement and promo-tion framework. Lithuania’s membership in EU crashed barriers for Lithuanian goods composed by Russia. The export of goods and services from Lithuania to Russia has been growing successfully from 2005. The most in-teresting and new export promotion tools used in Ger-many, Austria, Pakistan, India Sweden and other devel-oped countries has been analyzed as to compare with measures and weaknesses of tools used in Lithuania. The gap between developed and developing countries like Lithuania remains significant in the development of new products, quality, structure of goods exported, per-formance of environmental and safety requirements. As the result of the research the main strategic directions for export development and promotion for Lithuania are suggested.

Marketing Solutions in Rural Tourism Development in Lithuania

In the contemporary world, an increasing number of enterprises, including rural tourism businesses, employ marketing methods and knowledge in their activities. Rural tourism has an exclusive link with nature. For this reason its services became very popular. Its development is furthered by the right marketing system and an expedient EU and national support. Rural tourism becomes a new field of activities, which makes good income and returns in rural areas and enables to change from agricultural production to service trade. It is an extra income for farmers or other agrarian people. In addition, rural tourism provides social and cultural benefits, i.e. social contacts between local population and tourists, an augmented perception of the importance and preservation of cultural heritage, stronger communication among local people. Local communities are able to develop economics in the area, to improve living standards and to preserve cultural heritage and social values. Therefore, rural tourism development, preconditioning improvement of living standards of tourists and local people, increasingly becomes an object of scientific and practical discussions. In the article, the authors analysers rural tourism development, reveal its problems and marketing tasks. The aim of the study was to formulate the measures of improving the marketing solutions in rural tourism development.

Manufacturing Industry Trends in Lithuania

The article is aimed at highlighting development trends of the manufacturing industry in Lithuania and assessing its prospects. In recent years, this industry has been the driving force of the Lithuanian economic development. Not only does it generate the highest GDP share but has a significant direct impact on agriculture, transport and construction industries and dominates Lithuanian exports. Manufacturing industry plays a key role in Lithuania’s efforts to cover the economic gap between the country and the developed states as soon as possible. Experience of a number of other countries has shown that fast economic growth in the long term usually relies on the development of manufacturing industry, especially when a country lacks abundant natural resources. However, Lithuania is strengthening its formal and actual integration into a rather uniform EU economic space where an opposite trend of the reduction in manufacturing weigh is gaining momentum. The paper will try to answer the question why Lithuania is probably the only EU member state where the manufacturing industry's share in the GDP has not declined and even went up significantly in recent years. Experts believe that the industrial development in Lithuania has reached its breaking point. The period when low production costs gave companies a competitive advantage and contacts with foreign partners were key success factors is drawing to a close. Further industrial growth will rely on improved labour productivity, i.e. production modernization, generation of higher value added and use of innovations. However, the main obstacles are shortage of highly skilled labour force, low foreign direct investment flows, lack of close ties between business and research communities and a rather poor situation of R&D in the country. The paper analyses whether the expectations that the industrial structure will shift towards the development of high and medium-high technologies branches have a strong basis. Experts believe that the strengthening competitive pressure from Asian companies will force Lithuanian exporters to focus on penetrating the CIS region. The possibility to bridge the EU and CIS countries is a strong, albeit highly overlooked, trump card of the Lithuanian economy in the competitive battle. The article concludes with the overview of the existing situation in and outlook for major sectors of the manufacturing industry.

Lithuanian-German Relations in the Context of Global Geopolitical Challenges at the Beginning of 21st Century

The article puts forth several tasks. The first task is to ascertain the possible Germany's impact on the further development of Lithuania's geopolitical subjectivity. The second task is to identify the main principles of current Germany's geopolitical code. Thirdly, it will examine Lithuania's and Germany's interests in the context of eventual global geopolitical transformations and construct scenarios of development relating to the international environment. Fourthly is will construct the broad spectrum of possible scenarios (including positive and negative ones) on Lithuania's and Germany's bilateral relations. And fifth, it will ascertain the optimal model for Lithuania in shaping its relations with Germany.