Vilnius, October 29 (ELTA) – Renowned Lithuanian actor, director and musician Kostas Smoriginas died Tuesday night at age 72, his son announced.

“Tonight, my father – Kostas Smoriginas – has passed away,” his son, opera singer Kostas Smoriginas, wrote on Facebook.

Born in Kaunas in 1953, Smoriginas moved to Vilnius to study at the Lithuanian State Conservatory – now the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre – under renowned director Dalia Tamulevičiūtė. He was part of her legendary Top Ten group of actors.

Smoriginas spent many years at the Youth Theatre, known for the productions of director Eimuntas Nekrošius in which he often played leading roles.

While still a student, Smoriginas helped pioneer a new genre known as the actor’s song, LRT writes. Beginning in 1985, he performed and wrote songs, released several albums of sung poetry, and in 1995 formed the group Aktorių trio with fellow actors Saulius Bareikis and Olegas Ditkovskis. The trio became immensely popular across Lithuania.

Smoriginas also directed numerous plays in theatres throughout the country over the years.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania has issued another note of protest over Russia’s continued mass shelling of Ukraine.

The note of protest was handed over to the chargé d’affaires of the Russian Federation on Tuesday, 28 October.

Last week alone, Russia used more than 1,300 glide bombs, 1,200 combat drones and over 50 missiles of various types against Ukraine.

Russian attacks in various regions of Ukraine damaged houses, civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

In the note of protest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the killing of a Freedom TV journalist and cameraman in Kramatorsk by Russian forces on 23 October.

It was stressed that journalists, as all civilians, are protected under the Geneva Convention and other international humanitarian laws.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Lithuania would continue to seek for tougher and more impactful sanctions on Russia and to enhance Ukraine’s capabilities to defend itself against the Russian aggression, as well as to bring to account all those responsible for the Russian war of aggression and war crimes.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – On Tuesday, President Gitanas Nausėda held a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, said the presidency.

During the call, they discussed the situation caused by smuggling balloons being launched from Belarus.

The President emphasised that this is an unprecedented hybrid attack against Lithuania, posing a direct threat to civil aviation safety, disrupting the operations of Vilnius Airport and affecting 20,000 passengers.

The president thanked the NATO secretary general for his solidarity.

As reported, Vilnius Airport had to be closed four times last week, while Kaunas Airport was closed once due to contraband-laden meteorological balloons from Belarus.

The incidents happened on 21 October and on 24–26 October. As a result, Lithuania has closed two remaining border checkpoints with Belarus until further notice and on 29 October will consider their indefinite closure.

It was also decided that the Armed Forces would use kinetic measures to bring down meteorological balloons entering Lithuania, whereas police officers and border guards would cooperate closer tackling cigarette smuggling.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – Contraband-laden weather balloons from Belarus disrupted flight operations in Lithuania last week, but  Latvian airline airBaltic does not plan to reduce or cancel flights from Lithuania amid the incidents, public broadcaster LRT reported.

“The airline continues conducting all flights to and from Vilnius and Palanga, and at this point does not plan to reduce or cancel flights, unless airspace restrictions temporarily hinder activities,” airBaltic’s representative Edvards Dalderis told LRT.

Nonetheless, he admits that flight suspensions at Vilnius Airport last week affected the airline’s operations, crew rotations and connecting flights. Disruptions resulted in cancelled, diverted and delayed flights, which inconvenienced passengers and raised the company’s costs.

As reported, last week, Vilnius Airport was closed four times, while Kaunas Airport was closed once due to dozens of meteorological balloons from Belarus.

Vilnius, October 29 (ELTA) – No foreign national tried to cross into Lithuania from Belarus illegally over the past day, 28 October, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has said.

Latvia’s border service reported eight illegal crossing attempts made on Tuesday. Polish border officers turned away 16 illegal migrants at its border with Belarus a day earlier.

So far this year, Lithuania has prevented 1,456 illegal crossing attempts by foreign nationals at unauthorised locations bordering Belarus. The overall figure for 2024 was 1,002. 

Vilnius, October 29 (ELTA) – The National Audit Office said it has updated its annual activity plan for 2025 to include a new audit to assess the effectiveness of changes in the education system. In addition, two previously planned assessments in the field of national defence will be carried out as more detailed audits, with recommendations to the audited entities.

The audit Effectiveness of planning and implementation of changes in education in ensuring conditions for pupils’ achievements has been added to the list of planned audits, the public spending watchdog said in a press release.

The level of pupils’ achievements is one of the key indicators of the education system’s performance, which has a direct impact on social justice and the country’s competitiveness. In recent years, significant changes have been implemented in the education system: the content of education has been updated, the system of matriculation examinations has been reformed, and the principles of assessment have been changed.

However, poor results in the 2025 state matriculation examinations and the decision to add extra evaluation points revealed shortcomings in the implementation of the reforms. The audit will assess whether changes in education are planned and implemented in a way that enables all pupils to make progress and whether education policy is consistent and effective.

The audit will begin later this year, with results expected to be published in the fall of 2026.

Taking into account the country’s strategic priorities and geopolitical challenges, the National Audit Office will continue to pay close attention to national defence issues. For a more detailed analysis, two previously planned assessments in this area will be carried out as audits: Financial management of the national defence system and Acquisition of arms and military equipment.

The first audit will assess whether financial management is efficient and ensures the implementation of national defence system priorities and strategic projects, the planned strengthening of defence capabilities, and the fulfilment of Lithuania’s NATO commitments.

The second audit is designed to assess whether the acquisition of arms and military equipment is planned and implemented efficiently, with appropriate risk management, supervision of the acquired equipment, and ensuring industrial cooperation.

Adjustments to the National Audit Office’s activity plan demonstrate the institution’s desire to focus on areas that have the greatest impact on society: the quality of education, defence funding and the implementation of strategic national objectives.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – Lithuania has taken another major step toward becoming a key player in Europe’s digital infrastructure. Arelion has completed a new high-capacity, low-latency fibre route between Helsinki and Warsaw, forming a fully resilient connectivity ring across the Baltics, reports investment promotion agency Invest Lithuania.

The new network bypasses traditional bottlenecks in Stockholm and Copenhagen, cutting latency and creating a faster, more secure digital bridge between the Baltics, Nordics, and Western Europe. 

For Lithuania, this development is more than an infrastructure milestone. It’s a strategic boost to the country’s growing data centre and AI ecosystem. The new route connects Vilnius’s key data facilities, including Delska DC2 (formerly RackRay) and the Vilnius TV Tower data centre, directly into Arelion’s global backbone. As a result, Lithuania now benefits from backbone-grade performance and enterprise-level service reliability, strengthening its position as an ideal location for AI workloads, cloud operations, and hyperscale deployments. 

The project, supported by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility 2 (CEF2), underscores Europe’s broader ambition to enhance digital sovereignty and resilience across geopolitically sensitive regions. 

As investment in Baltic data infrastructure accelerates, Lithuania is emerging as a regional gateway for secure, scalable, and high-speed connectivity, linking Nordic innovation hubs with Central European markets. 

With Finland’s data centre market projected to reach $5.23 billion by 2030, Lithuania’s robust connectivity, reliable energy supply, and EU-aligned regulatory environment make it a vital node in Europe’s north–south digital corridor.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH), the aerospace platform of Dubai South dedicated to advancing the aviation industry announced today that Dublin-based Avia Solutions Group (ASG); the world’s largest ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) provider; will establish its new regional headquarters at Dubai South.

As part of ASG’s global expansion strategy, the new facility will strengthen the company’s ability to meet the growing demand for ACMI and integrated aviation solutions across the Middle East and beyond, ASG said in a press release.

Scheduled for completion in Q4 2027, the state-of-the-art facility will initially accommodate up to 800 professionals from a wide range of nationalities and expertise. This new regional headquarters will serve as a global collaboration hub for the Group.

The facility will feature contemporary workspaces, executive offices and advanced meeting facilities, and will operate as a shared-services centre supporting the Group’s worldwide operations in ACMI, cargo charters, cybersecurity, digital marketing and aviation insurance. Additionally, the facility will include an Avia Solutions Group Agentic AI innovation hub, a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to attract global talent.

In his comments, H.E. Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai South, said: “Welcoming Avia Solutions Group to Dubai South further strengthens the emirate’s position as a preferred destination for global corporations seeking to expand into the region and capitalise on Dubai’s world-class infrastructure, innovative solutions and business-friendly environment. At Dubai South, our mandate is to attract leading international companies in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to establish Dubai as the aviation capital of the world.” 

Gediminas Žiemelis, Founder and Chairman of Avia Solutions Group, said: “The Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub at Dubai South is among the most advanced and integrated aviation ecosystems in the world. Establishing our regional headquarters in Dubai will enable us to attract top talent globally, meet the growing demands of our customers across the region and beyond, and further enhance our operational efficiency to deliver best-in-class services worldwide.”

Avia Solutions Group, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is the world’s largest ACMI provider and a leading global aviation services company. The Group is backed of more than 14,000 professionals and operates a fleet of 187 aircraft across six continents. The Group offers a broad range of aviation solutions through its subsidiaries, including aircraft leasing and trading, MRO services, ground handling, pilot and crew training, charter and cargo operations, as well as aviation media and events.

MBRAH offers global aerospace players high-level connectivity and is a free-zone destination for the world’s leading airlines, private jet companies, MROs, and associated industries. Located in and developed by Dubai South, MBRAH is also home to maintenance centres and training and education campuses. It seeks to strengthen engineering industries to foster the emirate’s vision of becoming a leading aviation hub.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – Fire teams protecting Lithuania’s strategic facilities will become operational next year, says Commander of the Public Security Service (VST) General Viktoras Grabauskas.

At a meeting with representatives of opposition parties on Tuesday, he said that the concept is being developed and fire teams will become active next year with appropriate kinetic measures, albeit not yet at the full extent that is needed.

The general noted that the VST is working on the task taking into consideration the experience of similar forces in Ukraine.

Speaking about the recent influx of meteorological balloons from Belarus to Lithuania, Grabauskas explained that VST officers guarding strategic facilities already have measures needed for neutralising the balloons, but they would have to fly at a certain altitude.

In July, the Ministry of the Interior and Vilnius City Municipality agreed on closer cooperation when developing the response mechanism to the threat of unmanned aerial vehicles. It was agreed that the Ministry of the Interior and mobile fire teams established in municipalities would oversee protection of critical infrastructure facilities in Vilnius.

As reported, last week, meteorological balloons smuggling cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania four times disrupted flights at Vilnius Airport and once at Kaunas Airport.

Lithuania is treating the incidents as a Belarusian hybrid attack. Responding to the incidents, Lithuania closed two remaining border checkpoints with Belarus until further notice and on 29 October will decide whether to close the border indefinitely.

Moreover, the Armed Forces will start using kinetic measures to bring down weather balloons, whereas police officers and border guards will step up cooperation to tackle cigarette smuggling.

Vilnius, October 28 (ELTA) – During the first three quarters of the year, the Lithuanian branch of OP Corporate Bank earned EUR 25.4 million in revenue, which is 2% more than in the same period last year, when revenue reached EUR 24.99 million. Net interest income grew by 5%, from EUR 19.5 million last year to EUR 20.4 million this year, OP Corporate Bank said in a press release.

The revenue growth was mainly driven by increased corporate lending. At the end of the period, the loan and leasing portfolio reached EUR 1.7 billion, up 35% from a year earlier, when lending to Lithuanian businesses totalled EUR 1.2 billion.

Profit before tax amounted to EUR 14.7 million, which is 12% lower than the EUR 16.6 million earned in the same period last year.

This quarter, business investments increased, and we expanded our lending to meet companies’ needs to grow their businesses. The highest activity was seen among companies in the energy, real estate and infrastructure, and agriculture sectors. After several years, transport and logistics companies have returned, facing the need to renew their fleets and prepare for the increase in demand expected next year. For twelve years, we have consistently financed Lithuanian businesses, thereby contributing to the strengthening of the country’s economy,” said Leda Iržikevičienė, Country Manager at OP Corporate Bank’s Lithuanian branch.

According to a survey by Kantar, 87% of the bank’s customers – large and medium-sized corporates – plan to invest in business expansion next year.

According to Leda Iržikevičienė, this is a positive sign for the Lithuanian economy, which remains stable and resilient, and is expected to grow even faster next year.

OP group operates in Finland and the Baltic countries.