Background information

In compliance with the Order No 3D-518 and the Order No 3D-852 of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, on 11 October 2022, the National Agricultural Credit Guarantee Fund (NACGF), through selected financial intermediaries, started to provide soft loans to operators in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. The aim of the measure is to ensure liquidity of agricultural and fisheries companies and to reduce the impact of the crisis caused by the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine.

Content of measure

The soft loans are granted to operators engaged in primary production of agricultural products and cooperative companies engaged in processing or marketing of agricultural products, which have experienced liquidity difficulties after 1 February 2022 due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine or whose turnover has decreased by more than 10% compared to the same period last year. Soft loans under this measure are granted to finance working capital (i.e. for wages and related taxes; fuel and electricity for farm purposes; fertilisers, etc.). The loan amount is up to €500,000 per undertaking.

Loans are granted for a maximum period of 72 months and must be disbursed by 30 June 2023. Depending on the size of the borrower and the duration of the loan, fixed annual interest rates range from 1.28% to 3.03%.

The soft loans will be granted until 30 June 2023 and have a budget of €61 million.

Use of measure

According to the data provided by the NACGF, during the period from October to December 2022, 363 economic entities were granted loans for the total amount of €30 million.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Public support service providers	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

No information available.

Views and reactions

No information available.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 29 August 2022: Order No 3D-518 of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuani (e-seimas.lrs.lt)
• 23 December 2022: Order No 3D-852 of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuani (www.e-tar.lt)