Mobility Basic Figures

According to findings within the EU funded project ALTERMOTIVE the total energy consumption in car passenger transport in Lithuania has decreased from 22 PJ in 1995 to about 17 PJ in the year 2000. It started to increase slightly after 2000 and the highest growth rates were in the years after 2004 which can be attributed at least to some extent to Lithuania’s membership in the EU. The market share of diesel in car passenger transport increased during the years. With respect to alternative fuels in car passenger transport in Lithuania there is a moderate stock of LPG which increased continuously in the recent years. The total stock of passenger vehicles in Lithuania has grown from about 700,000 cars in 1995 to about 1.6 million cars in 2007. The percentage of alternative fuel vehicles is small and consists mainly of LPG cars (in 2007 about 45,000). According to data collection within the EU funded project MADEGASCAR for 2009 in Lithuania there is only a stock of 5 biogas busses used in public transport (no passenger cars or heavy duty vehicles). Currently the is 1 passenger car model available on the market that run with CNG/biogas. According to the EU funded project BEST until the end of 2008 there was no market for flexifuel vehicles in Lithuania.

In 2010 the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications organised a conference named “Electro mobiles in Lithuania: problems and challenges”, which was initiated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The ministries vision presented on this conference is in 2015 the establishment of a pilot infrastructure network for charging/replacing electro mobile batteries in one of the major towns in Lithuania. By 2030 – the total electrification and automation of public transport should be reached in major towns of Lithuania and the amount of environment friendly road vehicles should reach 40% of all vehicle fleet. By 2050 Lithuanian fleet of ecological road vehicles should be developed up to the proportion of 50% of the total road vehicles fleet.

The geoinformation System European Environmental Atlas (technologies.ewindows.eu.org/atlas_map) does not list any refuelling facilities for biogas (methane), biodiesel, and hydrogen (also cross-checked with other information sources). The European funded project BEST lists one refuelling station for E85 flexifuel in Lithuania. LPG is widely available from service stations and specialist outlets (i.e. degalines.orlenlietuva.lt/lt shows a country wide network of refuelling stations). According to data collection within the EU funded project MADEGASCAR for 2009 in Lithuania there are 2 biogas refilling stations. At the moment there is no public infrastructure for recharging electro vehicles.

Fiscal Incentives

There is a uniform VAT of 19% on the acquisition of vehicles and fuel. At the moment there is no registration tax and circulation tax.

There is an excise duty of 0.434 EUR/litre unleaded petrol and of 0.33 EUR/litre for diesel

The Law on Tax for Pollution of Environment provides that tax rates are fixed every 5 years for groups of pollutants based on their hazardous impact on the environment. The listing of pollutants and their grouping is in the responsibility of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and its authorised institutions. The Law on Tax for Pollution of Environment also abolishes the application of increased and reduced tax rates for environmental pollution. In cases of successful application of measures with respect to the reduction of pollutant emissions of more than 10% of the maximum allowed pollution standards, the law provides for a tax - holiday from the particular pollutant's tax for a period of up to 3 years. If the established pollution standard is exceeded, the responsible person has to pay a fine which is established by the law. Natural or legal persons who submit documents certifying the consumption of biofuel shall be exempted from the pollution taxl. The law on environmental pollution tax (Official Gazette 2002, No 13-474; 2005, No 47-1560) (in force since 1 January 2006) foresees exemption from the environment pollution tax for natural and legal entities using biofuels for vehicles.

Grants/Subsidies

The establishment of the Lithuanian Environmental Investment Fund is foreseen by the Strategy for Environmental Protection of Lithuania approved by the resolution No. I-1550 of the Parliament of the Lithuanian Republic dated September 25, 1996. The Lithuanian Environmental Investment Fund (LEIF) was founded on November 11, 1996, as a public institution in compliance with the Law on Public Institutions of the Republic of Lithuania. The general work principles of the LEIF is described in the statute of the LEIF. The founder of the LEIF is the Ministry of Environment. The Fund supports investment projects in form of soft loans and subsidies. The supervisory board of the fund establishes on annual basis, which type of applicants and which field of environmental investments shall be granted the aforementioned types of financing. By applying the aforesaid types of financing, the fund provides financial support for environmentally beneficial investment projects of legal bodies duly incorporated in the Republic of Lithuania and engaged in economic activities. In principle, the replacement of large old fashioned vehicle fleet by more environmental friendly vehicles could be within the scope of the fund.

Regulation

The provisions of Directive 2003/30/EC have been transposed into the Republic of Lithuania Law on biofuel, biofuels for transport and bio-oils (adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania on 5 February 2004, Official Gazette 2004, No 28-870). To implement the provisions of Directive 2003/30/EC and the Republic of Lithuania Law on biofuel, biofuels for transport and bio-oils, a number of national legal acts were adopted in 2005. The rules for trade in petroleum products, biofuel, bio-oil and other flammable liquid products in the Republic of Lithuania, approved by Order of the Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Lithuania, as amended by Order No 4-345 of the Minister of the Economy of 15 September 2006, laying down the amount of bio additives in mineral fuels: - diesel fuel must contain 5% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) produced from vegetable oils or fats of animal origin. For 2010 there is a biofuel target of 5.75%.

Unleaded fuels are banned in Lithuania since 2001. A maximum of 10 gr/litre sulphur is allowed for diesel and petrol.

The Public Procurement Office is an institution operating under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, which co-ordinates the activities of procurement, supervises compliance of procurement activities with the Law on Public Procurement and the implementing legislation. According to the actual version of the Lithuanian procurement law, public institutions may lay down and apply environmental criteria when purchasing supplies ((Art. 24 4. 4., Art. 25 3. 2) and Art. 39): However, no specific environmental criteria for the procurement of vehicles are defined and applied yet.

www.vpt.lt	webpage of the Lithuanian public procurement office
www.am.lt	webpage of the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment
www.transp.lt	webpage of the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport
www.laaif.lt	webpage of the Lithuanian Environmental Investment Fun

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA - LAW ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT