Didzioji 5, LT- 01128
IT & EDUCATION
issue No. 53, 2016
Audrius Cesiulis, PwC
Nikky Smedley, changing cultures
Regimantas Liepa, Nordgain
Antanas Uršulis, CSC Baltic
Creating new value in new ways through digital transformation
The Human Face of IT in Education
On the path of growth
CSC Baltic: a Global Perspective from Vilnius
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Ben Lunn, Composer and conductor Brits in Lithuania
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Vilnius’s New Mayoral Strategy: A breath of fresh air for Northern Europe’s hottest new business hub increase - last year saw the country’s FDI agency Invest Lithuania posting its best results ever – the city is set to see its fortunes prosper even further. At the helm of this surge is the city’s new Mayor, Remigijus Šimašius. With his experienced team he is developing and implementing a raft of new strategies intended to make the capital an even more alluring option for businesses and citizens alike.
Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius
Starting with business, the new administration has recognized the huge untapped potential in developing the capital as a strategic hub for tech business that bridges talent and opportunities from both the Eastern and Western market. With the Mayor’s full backing, this year will see the launch of Vilnius Tech Park, a private venture designed to create a Silicon Valley for the region. Alongside the presence of Shared Services Centers for Fortune 500 companies such as Western Union, AIG, Nasdaq, and, of course, Barclays, this emphasis on nurturing new tech business will enable the capital to position itself as one of Europe’s go to destinations for modern, forward thinking business.
Vilnius is on the rise. This year alone the city has already secured 3rd place, after Zurich and Edinburgh, in the mid-sized European Cities category of the Financial Times fDI European Cities of the Future index. And with foreign investment on the
And the key to sustaining such growth lays in connectivity, something the administration is keenly aware of. To this end it is presently collaborating closely with the city’s airport to expand on the routes and operators currently available. Last September saw a record break-
How language services are used to combat corruption, money laundering and data theft
David Clarke, Today Translations
Upon reading the headline, you might ask yourself, “What is the connection between language services and anti- corruption procedures?” Many companies that trade with overseas customers and suppliers, or through agents in foreign markets are awakening to a threat as old as trade itself: the danger of fraud through deliberate misinterpretation of information. In our highly interconnected, street viewable market place, instantaneous communication has presented new opportunities to trade for both legitimate and illegitimate businesses. Like the first European traders that came face to face with a potential business partner in a distant land, there was a vital ingredient needed to ensure the parties could trust the other not to rip them off: good communication. Given the historic importance of communica-
tion in any trade, it is surprising that so many companies do not know the risks associated with translating and interpreting words and behaviours. Sadly, too many only understand the issues when something goes wrong, like the realisation that the foreign businessman you are dealing with is using fake details or has cloned a legitimate company to trick you into opening an account or parting with cash and goods. The anguish it causes business owners and, more importantly, the significant losses they and their investors suffer can be catastrophic. It is estimated that companies lose the equivalent of 5% of their turnover to fraud and errors. The damage to business from fraud, corruption, data breaches and regulatory violations can ultimately destroy a company. The tactics employed by traders across the centuries to communicate with foreign speaking clients and build trust are more relevant than ever, and for the first time these have been compiled into a structured model called AMLiss. In our globalised society, client relations and partnerships inter-weave across multiple jurisdictions and are dependent upon different languages.
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ing 3.3 million passing through Vilnius airport, and this year has already seen the administration setting a priority to attract new business carrier routes to London Gatwick and Heathrow.
expenditure and reduce city debt. And in terms of boosting revenue, new strategies are being introduced to improve citizen registration and manage real estate.
The focus of the administration, however, is not merely on business. The Mayor is strongly committed to promoting an agenda of transparency and openness; he sees this as a key way in which the city can be both given back to its citizens and guaranteed a prosperous future. To achieve this, a number of initiatives and measures have been put in place. Starting with governance and accountability, following OECD recommendations the boards of Municipal companies are currently being reconfigured to include independent members from private companies. The bar has been set high, with a target of 66% of all companies meeting the standard by mid2016, and progress has been swift: the city is already two thirds of the way to achieving its aims.
Under the Mayor’s guidance a number of major developmental projects have been announced. With the aim of stimulating healthier lifestyles and greener transportation, projects to improve the city’s existing bicycle infrastructure and redevelop the area around the city’s River have been tabled.
While to make the city more accountable to its 660,000 daily users, data is being migrated online, enabling them to monitor the performance of many of the cities key services such as transport, budgets, kindergartens and other.
Truly, Vilnius has set itself on a new path of growth and prosperity.
Making the city more cost effective and fiscally responsible is also a key priority. Within the last year the administration has implemented a number of initiatives designed to limit unnecessary
The largest project, and the undoubtedly the most attractive to foreign investors, is the Multifunctional Center that is to be built with the aid of PPP investment on the site of the National Sports Stadium. This project will provide foreign construction specialists with a fantastic opportunity to get involved in what is destined to be one of the city’s keynote structures.
As Remigijus Šimašius himself asserts: „Our city team has a determination to create a city that is open and transparent; owned and governed by the people that live in it. With this in mind Vilnius is set to become a truly cosmopolitan home for people with ambition, inspiration and drive.”
Designing the Society We Want to Live In: One School’s Journey
Rebecca Juras, Director, Vilnius International School
Vilnius International School was established in 2004, the same year that Lithuania became a member of the European Union. It also marked the beginning of a mass exodus of Lithuanians seeking careers abroad, unconvinced that our then fledgling economy could accommodate the high professional standards and cultural stimulation many craved. In fact, there was a pervasive attitude among professional people that could be described as dismissive towards those of us who chose to stay and build our lives here. In the eyes of the eager, Vilnius was nowhere on the map. Fortunately, there was another cohort who thought differently. Not only did they believe in Lithuania’s future as a progressive state, they were convinced that we could develop public institutions that would reflect high ethical and professional standards. They believed that
we would eventually prove to the world, or more importantly to ourselves, that Vilnius is as attractive a destination for business as any other European capital. The city of Vilnius and Vilnius International School have made significant progress toward realising this vision in a relatively short period of time. Foreign teachers and expatriate families attending our school praise loudly the healthy lifestyle and the balanced rhythm our city permits. They feel safe in Vilnius and readily trust our institutions. Vilnius has been recently hailed in the media as a hidden gem, while Lithuania is among the top 5 entrepreneurial hubs in Europe, a leader in IT and technology and one of Europe’s best kept secrets! Vilnius is once more a thriving city that has successfully balanced tradition with modernity and culture with kitsch. The changes since Independence have been extensive, but have we achieved our goals? Are we a truly cosmopolitan European capital? The experience of Vilnius International School mirrors the development of our city in many ways. continued on page 4 >
BCC paper issue No 53
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BCC NEWS
BCC Member to Member Discount scheme
From the Chairman
If it’s a leap year…
Chris Butler, Chairman of the Board, BCC Lithuania
BCC Members can benefit from the discounts offered from other Members. The Membership cards are issued to member companies and individuals of BCC Lithuania. Sponsor Members receive 5 cards, Corporate – 3 cards, Small company – 2 cards, Overseas and Social Members – 1 card. Please share these cards with colleagues in your company. The information about discounts and offers is constantly updated and can be checked on the BCC website www.bccl.lt. The card is valid until April 1, 2017.
AVIS Rent A Car & Leasing Company • 25 % for short-term rentals within Lithuania and the Baltic states • special quotes for outbound and chauffeur drive rentals • tailor-made full leasing and fleet management offers • corporate Charge and Avis Preffered cards
Baltic American Medical and Surgical Clinic
• 10% discount for all medical consultations
Biuro Pasaulis • 22% discount for stationery
Baltic Surveys • 10% discount for market research services in the Baltic states
Bottlery • 20% on all imported beverages • 15% on food products and Lithuanian beverages * The discount is valid for the General
Delta Management Solutions Best Western hotels in Vilnius and Druskininkai
• 15 % discount from the best available rate for accommodation
Growing Talent • Free introductory one to one coaching session • Free consultation meeting to explore training & development needs • 10% discount on services (e.g. executive coaching, training workshops)
Calenberg Vilnius •
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IBIS Styles Vilnius
managers, Executives and Head of Departments of BCC Member Companies and with BOTTLERY Gold Member cards only.
• FREE Recruitment; FREE Replacement (if required); ZERO Admin Fee for 1st Month (waived) for Temporary Staffing Services
Finreda • 10 % for corporate, accounting, audit organisation, legal, financial, tax and business consulting and translation services
Hotel VANAGUPĖ & Amber SPA • 20% discount of rack rates for accommodation in the hotel • 10% discount on food and beverages in the hotel restaurant, terrace and bar • 10% discount for SPA procedures
Vilnius Grand Resort • 20% for green fee at „The V Golf Club“; • 10% discount for one time entrance in the Health Club + SPA “Oasis”; • 10% discount for individual accommodation bookings from BAR; • 10% discount for food and beverages at the restaurant „Le Paysage“
Varul, Law firm
Quantum Capital
The mutual interest of this partnership is the newly launched GLL‘s program ‘Talentai Lietuvai’ aiming at bringing selected Lithuanian graduates of foreign universities for high quality internships with leading Lithuania-based companies.
ISM Executive school
Northway Medical and Surgery Centers • 20% discount for all medical consultations
The BCC paper is the official publication of the British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania, covering a wide variety of subjects related to promoting and encouraging bilateral business relations between the UK and Lithuania. The BCC paper also provides an outlet for the chamber and its members to publish their latest news and offer their professional views on current political, economic, European and cultural topics. The paper is widely circulated: available from Lithuania’s two main airports, business centres, hotels and the UK and Lithuanian embassies, in addition to being sent to all BCC members and business contacts, meaning it offers premium advertising space to companies wishing to engage with the Lithuanian business community. The print run of BCC paper is 4000 copies. Next publication date: June 2016
Odontika • 15% off all treatment & 5% off prosthetic work
London International School of Languages • 15% discount for all our services • an initial promotional class or consultation for free
BCC paper team: Editor in Chief – Chris Butler Editorial support: Michael West, Alistair Day-Stirrat, Sandra Kundrotė Members section and advertising – Sandra Kundrotė, e-mail: Sandra@bccl.lt , tel. +370 5 2690062 Proofreading – Shaun Harvey, Michael West Layout - Tautmilė Stanevičiūtė Printing – Lietuvos ryto spaustuve, UAB
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Radisson Blu Royal Astorija Hotel
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Shakespeare Boutique hotel
• 10% for all services and free of charge first consultation
BCC Lithuania is pleased to introduce its new partner Global Lithuanian Leaders – an independent, non-governmental network of elite Lithuanian-connected professionals around the world who have something to contribute to redefining and strengthening Lithuania’s place in a globalized world.
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BCC starts cooperation with Global Lithuanian Leaders
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If it’s a leap year then most of us know that there will be 366 days, an Olympic Games and a European football championship. In Lithuania we also know it means that there will be a Seimas election in the autumn. Time flies. It seems hardly any time at all since we said goodbye to the government of Andrius Kubilius, the first government in modern Lithuanian history to survive for the whole of the 4 year parliamentary term, and now we are on the verge of the Algirdas Butkevicius government achieving the same thing. Given the nature of the coalition that Butkevicius was leading it is quite remarkable that it has survived so long. Partly that is because this has been a relatively lucky government, riding a wave of consistent economic growth and enjoying the attention that the European Union Presidency brought to Lithuania during the latter half of 2013. Where does Lithuania stand, economically and investment-wise, at the end of this Parliament? Arguably the two biggest developments during the last 4 years have been the rapid development of shared services centres in Vilnius (from zero to approximately 11,000 jobs in about 6 years), plus the
advent of energy (or at least, gas) independence from Russia. Interestingly enough both of these developments were started under the Kubilius government, which is as good an illustration of political continuity that I can think of. What will the legacy of the Butkevicius government be to its successor - even if that successor, as the opinion polls are predicting, is another Butkevicius government with perhaps different coalition partners.? Undoubtedly the biggest legacy, if it indeed happens, would be the new Labour Code. The appalling Labour Code that Lithuania currently has is as much a legacy of Soviet thinking as those famous statues that used to “adorn” the Green Bridge in Vilnius. Time and again investors in Lithuania name the Labour Code as the most significant hindrance to the smooth conduct or their business here. The Butkevicius government has at least been brave enough to approach the idea of reform, but whether the Soviet-nostalgic forces within his own party will allow the new Labour Code to see the light of day before the end of this parliament remains to be seen. With the election in mind, the British Chamber will be helping to organise in a debate between the main parties to be held for the foreign investor community. This will be your opportunity to quiz the parties as to their positions on matters important to your businesses – please take advantage of it and give them a hard time! In closing, I would like to finish this column by extending thanks on behalf of all members to Jurga Prakapaite, our Membership Services Manager since 2012, for her hard work and dedication to our Chamber. Jurga is heading off for new challenges and we wish her well.
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For further information or to book your ad space, please contact the chamber: Tel. +370 (5) 269 00 62/84, e-mail: Sandra@bccl.lt
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
BCC NEWS Chris Butler, Chairman of the BCC Lithuania receives the ‘Global Friend of Lithuania’ award Chris Butler with Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania in the Presidential Palace, Vilnius
In the end of 2015 Global Lithuanian Awards took place at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius. For the fourth successive year GLL | Global
Lithuanian Leaders stood out with the initiative to notice, acknowledge and reward the outstanding Global professionals of Lithuanian descent and their achievements for the benefit of Lithuanian economy, science and culture. BCC Chairman Chris Butler was nominated and won in the category as “Global Friend of Lithuania”. The award was presented by Dalia Grybauskaitė, the President of the Republic of Lithuania. The BCC community congratulates Chris with this magnificent and very well deserved achievement.
BCC Lithuania launches a new membership category for Start-ups The BCC Lithuania is delighted to launch a new type of Start – up company membership aiming to support the start ups in Lithuania and promote business links with the UK in this field. The Start-up company membership attributes: • Potential member has innovative product/ business model; • Potential member has a working prototype/ minimum viable product (MVP); • Potential member is a hightech company (fintech, biotech, gaming, mobile, software, hardware, robotics, lasers etc); • Potential member is an early stage company (company that operates less than 5 years since
incorporation and has not attracted external funding above EUR 1 million). Start-up membership status is granted not longer than for 2 years, afterwards the member migrates to other membership types The joining fee is EUR 150 and the yearly subscription of Start-up Company Membership is EUR 300. Application procedure is easy. Simply go to www.bccl.lt and click the red button ‘JOIN BCC’. Have any questions? Please contact us directly via bccl@bccl.lt
‘Talent for Lithuania‘ ‘Talent for Lithuania‘, a high quality internship programme for graduates of Lithuanian descent from foreign universities, is preparing for its second stage. The application month for graduates begins on the 6th of April, and new companies are welcome to join the programme. ‘Talent for Lithuania’ is meant to attract bright graduates of Lithuanian descent from foreign universities for professional internship possibilities at ambitious and innovative companies operating in Lithuania, and also bring the value of international education to the Lithuanian labour market. The purpose of the programme is to attract young ambitious talents with international experience as well as to create a business enviroment with a positive attitude to international knowledge and skills. For companies, the programme is a great opportunity to attract internationally educated young people, to grow and train loyal employees in accordance with the specific needs of the company, and to take part in building a quality internship culture in Lithuania.
The first stage of the programme was a great success. 13 innovative and well-known companies joined the programme, including ‘Barclay‘s’, ‘Swedbank’, ‘AIG’, ‘Schmitz Cargobull’, ‘Altechna’, ‘Devbridge’, ‘Metasite’, ‘Elinta’, ‘Light Conversion’, ‘Civitta’, ‘Strategy Labs’, ‘Vinted’ and ‘Eika’. They offered 25 high-level paid internships. They attracted the attention of 143 young and talented Lithuanian graduates. Moreover, more than 600 young talents have registered on Talent for Lithuania’s interactive map, willing to know more about the internship positions in the future. As for now, 1st stage companies are selecting the top candidates to join their teams and bring back ‘Talent for Lithuania’. If your company is interested in joining the programme feel free to contact organisers by e-mail viktorija@lithuanianleaders.org or visit: www.stazuokis.lt.
Volunteering helped DofE International Award participant find first job Kotryna Sadauskaitė is an 11th grade student at school in Vilnius. Less than one year ago Kotryna’s family moved to Vilnius. „The first months in a new school were not easy, but The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award programme helped me a lot“, Kotryna reflected. Kotryna was looking for a meaningful activity in her new environment which could help her make new friends and equip her with practical skills for her dream career – establishing her own kindergarten. By chance Kotryna shared her thoughts with Vilma Šikšniene, who is a trained DofE International Award programme leader, soon after Kotryna started her journey with DofE. The volunteering activity she chose was to go to work in a kindergarten: “Most of all, children liked to play ‘finger games’ – when we sing or talk and at the same time we draw the content in the air with fingers. This activity helps young children expand their vocabulary and improve motor skills“. Kotryna enjoyed the work so much that she forgot about counting the number of hours required for her Bronze Award! After a few months she received a proposal from the local authorities to work there as a substitute teacher. Kotryna is
one step further to her dream and recommends everybody to get involved in volunteer activities. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is the world’s leading youth achievement award. Since it was founded by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1956, over nine million people have participated in the Award in over 144 countries and territories. The Award has three levels - Bronze, Silver & Gold - open to young people between the ages of 1424. Each level follows a proven framework which aims to equip participants with the knowledge, skills and attitude to help them reach their full potential. At the core of all Award levels is the aim that participants will learn new skills, help others, have fun, make new friends and gain a great sense of achievement. All this falls under main sections - volunteering, physical wellbeing, skills development, expedition and residential project (Gold level only). In Lithuania there are currently 40 schools and other type of organizations delivering the Award to more than 250 young people from all over the country. For more information you are welcome to visit: www.dofe.lt, or contact Inga Cesnaite directly at: inga.c@lvjc.lt
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BCC paper issue No 53
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IT & EDUCATION
Creating new value in new ways through digital transformation of products and markets. The majority of CEOs believe that investments in digital technologies have created value for their business, and around 70% (80% globally) say that mobile technologies and data analytics are key strands of their strategy (95 %). Audrius Cesiulis, Director of Advisory services, PwC Lithuania CEOs no longer question the need to embrace technology at the core of their business in order to create value for customers. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, digital technologies have revolutionised how customers perceive value. Creating the personalised and ongoing experiences that are increasingly in demand requires a full view of the customer and all their relationships with the company. It requires an unprecedented level of customisation, responsiveness and innovation. Doing all this effectively just isn’t possible by tinkering at the edges. Companies increasingly recognise that they need to reconfigure their operating models – and perhaps their business models. And in order to do so they need to ensure that they’re not only investing in the right digital technologies, but can deploy them in a smart and effective way. The latest Lithuanian CEO surveys tells us that CEOs recognise the impact of evolving technologies and the benefits that can accompany their effective and strategic utilisation in terms
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The art of understanding CEOs are in no doubt about the role information can play in gaining insight about customers and how to engage with them. Mobile technologies have been around for decades, but the sheer ubiquity of mobile devices today has revolutionised customers’ ability to obtain information. Access to information has, in turn, transformed how customers perceive value and the type of relationships they want to have with companies. So it’s understandable that 71% (81% globaly) of CEOs see mobile technologies for customer engagement as most strategically important for their organisation – more than any other digital tool. But companies that want to exploit the power of mobile technologies to engage customers face tough choices about how, and how fast, to move to mobile channels and how to integrate those with more traditional channels. Data analytics, meanwhile, has transformed the ability of companies to access, analyse and circulate information about their customers, and use that information to create the type of relationships that their customers want. Indeed,
there’s evidence that companies that can most effectively use analytics to inform demand-side decisions about business processes outperform those that can’t. Small wonder, then, that 95% (80% globally) of CEOs cite data mining and analysis as strategically important. When companies do invest in digital technologies to deliver what customers want, that commitment would appear to be bearing fruit. The majority of CEOs think that digital technologies have created high value for their organizations in areas like data and data analytics, customer experience, digital trust and innovation capacity. Once more into the security breach The central role of information places cyber security squarely on the CEO agenda, particularly given the series of high-profile hacks over the
past year. With vast quantities of their information readily accessible around the clock, customers expect a certain amount of privacy and confidentiality. How companies honour this will mean much for their ability to engage with and retain customers, and build brand value. Small wonder then, that concern about cyber security has seen the biggest increase of all the potential threats we asked business leaders about, with 88% (61% globally) of CEOs citing concerns. But while we expect cyber security issues to continue to be a growing threat, organisations are adapting to this new reality: CEOs see cyber security technologies as a top-three most strategically important type of digital technology for their organisation. The real benefit of cyber security isn’t just in defending value. It’s about creating new value by enabling the trust that’s so central to doing business today. Cloud technology, for example, has elevated security concerns; the key to demonstrating the Cloud’s true value is to make it really secure. It’s encouraging, then, to see that the requisite shift in thinking seems to be underway, with 72% of CEOs seeing digital technologies as creating value in the area of digital trust. CEOs know they must be adaptable to disruptive changes in technology and in their markets. They need to put technology at the core of their business to create value for customers. Finding new ways of thinking and working in this new competitive landscape is critical to success.
“Designing the Society We Want to Live In: One School’s Journey”
We had a humble start as a school with only 25 students located in a residential building in the suburbs. We have since grown to over 300 students representing 40 nationalities and we are authorized to offer both the International Baccalaureate and Cambridge International AS and A Level programmes. VIS has achieved a great deal in a short period of time, but our success is not only measured by our growing multicultural demographic. Our success is made explicit through the role we play in transforming the society around us. VIS is an international school, which means that those who join our school community recognise
the value of exploring diverse and divergent perspectives. We also recognize that in doing so we are opening ourselves to the possibility that we may need to change and adapt in response to new understandings about our community. Accepting that the need to change and adapt to new situations was part of the commitment Lithuania made when we decided to join the European Union, we agreed that it was in our best interest to look beyond our borders to better understand unproductive dichotomies of thinking and ways of doing things. And as an EU member state, we were expected to partake in building a civil society that values human dignity and act to defend it.
Recent political events, including the hesitant attitude toward accepting refugees, have signaled that the time is ripe to revive the message of those who fought for a democratic civil society in Lithuania. Their efforts were not accomplished by looking inward, but by recognizing that Lithuania is as capable, our professional standards as rigorous, and our values as just and fair as any modern democracy. The same expectations hold true for our school. Vilnius International School was established to meet the needs of families who share our vision of a dynamic, innovative and open-minded society. Achieving this means making room for new ideas and creating opportunities to act upon them.
Schools are in a unique position to model the society we hope to see in the world around us. If we are to fulfill our responsibility for contributing to the development of a cosmopolitan city here in Vilnius, and a just and civil society around the globe, then we must demonstrate the qualities of culturally proficient human beings. We must strive to be skilled at effective communication and collaboration; seek knowledge in order to understand, be willing to get comfortable with the uncomfortable and commit to building a just and compassionate community both within the walls of our school and beyond them.
How language services are used to combat corruption, money laundering and data theft < continued from page 1
Consequently, lawyers, accountants and HR professionals in particular are increasingly encountering foreign languages and cultural issues as they conduct due diligence on clients, staff and partners. Experienced professionals know the value of such checks. However, many smaller firms and novice traders seem to be unaware of the heightened risk that multilingual communication entails and this makes them a juicy new target for criminals. Knowing your customer is not only good practice; it’s necessary practice. Firms — and especially those in the regulated professions — must factor language into the risk mitigation process. National and international regulatory bodies impose significant penalties on those who facilitate fraud and demonstrate serious lapses in their controls, as seen in the recent corruption scandal to embroil FIFA. Scrutiny is not limited to legal and financial professionals when it comes to identifying fraud and money laundering. Businesses in all sectors should learn how to mitigate risk in this area. Any company dealing with foreign language materials faces an additional challenge by being exposed to the risk of fraud and money laundering. They could also face potential prosecution if they engage or do not have adequate procedures in place to prevent it. “As more business is conducted internationally, an increasing amount of due diligence relates to foreign language materials be they documents on content on websites,” according to Arun Chauhan, Partner at law firm DWF LLP who specialises in fraud and risk services. “How can you be sure if the person you’re dealing with is who they say
there are? Something potentially incriminating can always look legitimate and innocent when you don’t understand the context.” There are three principle tiers of multi-lingual due diligence that professionals should consider when handling sensitive documents in a foreign language. First, rather than requesting a comprehensive, word-by-word translation of all documents from and then proceeding to inspect the bulk of translated content, regulated professionals would be wise conduct a structured risk based approach in conjunction with a specialised language service provider. The initial process involves examining foreign language documents in order to identify any potential fraud risks. For example, the appropriate compliance manager should highlight the most relevant information and what in particular may arouse suspicion. This prioritises the required information to be extracted for translation, thereby saving significant time and costs. The linguist should also be encouraged to consult on the source material using their sectoral expertise and local knowledge. They could, for example, be assigned to identify, extract, and review the key facts for the compliance manager. This grants an additional layer of independence to the due diligence and vetting process. However, for these translations to hold up, they must be certified by the linguist or translation service provider. Once the information has been relayed back to the compliance manager, the second step is to verify the facts. A linguist’s skills can once again be prized assets here. Their local knowledge, research and analytical skills can help in spotting irregularities that may indicate suspicious activity
in documents or verbal conversations. This additional insight may be appropriate when information comes to light during Know Your Customer (KYC) checks or in the form of an observation made in the initial document review and translation. Finally, anti-money laundering and compliance professionals, partners and client-facing staff should be trained to receive the necessary understanding and knowledge of the specific risks associated with multilingual documents, and how to effectively mitigate these risks going forward. This knowledge sharing might include: • Investigative tools and techniques that investigators and law-enforcement professionals apply • Examples and case studies of best- (and worst) practice • Criminal typologies employed that attempt to circumvent anti-corruption and AML procedures. The BSI10500 British anti-bribery standard has become an essential form of certification particularly for British companies with operations abroad and wanting the assurance that their anti-bribery procedures are adequate. A trusted language service provider with the necessary expertise is essential in achieving full cooperation and compliance, says Andrew Massey, former head of the City of London’s Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit: “Due diligence, particularly within overseas legal and financial operations, must extend to what can be evaded through language. We know that misinformation and miscommunication often sows the seeds for cross-border criminal activity.” Following the BS10500 standard will help ensure that you comply within all operations and
across all jurisdictions. Vetting staff and suppliers is central to a good counter fraud and corruption strategy. Factoring language into the risk process is a crucial element to this. Exceptional multilingual communication skills have been the keys to protecting businesses since the dawn of trade and will undoubtedly remain so for centuries to come. ** David Clarke is Today Translations’ special advisor on multilingual due diligence and head of its specialist security division, Today Advisory. He is a former Detective Chief Superintendent and head of the City of London Police Fraud Squad, and designed and led the UK’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. Prior, he worked as a Police Chief with the United Nations, serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Balkan War, and advising in Romania and Jordan. Today Translations is an award-winning global communications firm in the City of London and overseas member of the British Chamber of Commerce for Lithuania. It provides specialist language services and develops new technologies for companies and brands managing multilingual, crossborder communications. Its AMLiss™ package for counter-fraud and anti-corruption is underpinned by a network of linguists, legal specialists and independent advisers and has helped legal and financial firms review foreign language content and mitigate translation risk. David Clarke will be speaking at the BCCL’s ‘Breakfast Technical Briefing’ on April 27th about how to tackle the risks associated with handling foreign language documentation and managing global, multilingual and supply chains.
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
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IT & EDUCATION What does accountancy have to do with education? Often something like accountancy does not sound exciting or interesting. Things look different when you get to share with and educate clients on a daily basis, not only on how to optimise your daily book-keeping, tax and banking fees but also how to enter new business and markets. In addition to knowledge, working in the UK market and serving a broad variety of businesses for over 10 years provides experience and insight into the local market and culture. That is why accountancy and advisory does not sound boring to me and I want to share my experience and knowledge with customers. It has probably been heard a hundred times, that before you go to a new market or country – do research. And this fact is not overrated. Researching who your customers are, if your product has a niche and most importantly market demand is crucial to getting as much insight to your product market specifics and any cultural differences as possible. Lithuanians are very ambitious and smart people, often thinking if their products or services are popular in Lithuania they would be in other countries and in some cases they are right. However, like many countries, England has a very mature culture and is a conservative market, not to mention Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Although they are united they are different in their own way. Lithuania is a young country and has built itself on a very fresh foundation and new technology in order to replace Soviet structures, whereas England infrastructure is only catching up slowly with the rest of the world. It is not only because of its culture and conservatism, but also the size of the country and volumes of what needs to be changed, replaced and the scale of implementation. Therefore when going to such a different and big market, this is often overlooked. Yes, often the opportunities are bigger than Lithuania’s, but this also requires more in-depth research, investment and work on market and customers. And let me be honest with you here, finding someone who will propose or agree to get your product into the market without any clear structure or budget will simply waste your time and theirs . From the
The Human Face of IT in Education I have spoken on the subject of digital technology in education in many European countries, despite the fact that changing cultures are not a purely technological company. However, as everyone knows, the most complex element in any tech system is the user - and that is our speciality.
Olga Jachimovic, CEO – Accountant, Eurobaltika Ltd construction industry to software development or product integration all of this requires preparation, knowledge of the local business environment and implementation of regulations and legal requirements. Lithuanian businesses entering the UK market and thinking that they are big and able to handle big projects are often very much mistaken. So here is one of the facts of the UK market, any business with less than 5 million pounds in turnover is considered to be a micro business and 5-50 million pounds in turnover is considered to be small. Therefore when planning on entering the market first think of a smaller scale projects, get all regulations and requirements needed in place, show your credibility and then build on it. If you go to a big UK company first and propose yourself whilst unprepared or without a track record in the UK, they most probably will not take you seriously and doors may never open again. I am not trying to discourage anyone to try, dream big or expand into the UK, on the contrary I encourage businesses to explore and develop in this market, but do prepare beforehand. Also what is small for the UK is more than enough for Lithuanian business to start with. If you have plans on entering or expanding into the UK market and would like to get professional advice we would be happy to help. Eurobaltika is a new overseas member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania
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We describe ourselves as experts in Creativity and Engagement, which is the truth, but I’d like to delve into those terms a little. By Creativity, we do not mean the ability to draw, or dance, or play a musical instrument - although it can be argued that these are technical skills, and the creativity comes with what you do with them. This premise is transferable to any skill set, as an engineer, a physicist, a retailer - you learn the skills to complete the required tasks in your field, but success can often depend on the creative application of those skills. This is of course also true of education. The gaming industry, a hugely successful sector in the UK, is an interesting case in point, where 10% of business is involved in generating hardware, and the rest is the creative input, inventing and honing those games which will appeal to the target market. Engagement is of course a key issue in schools and corporations. Increase levels of engagement, whether within or without the institution and a raft of problems will dissipate. Technology can have a part to play here, but so can careful attention to the human beings who are interacting with it. Research tells us that when businesses are recruiting, they want good communication skills above all else; that drive, initiative and flexibility feature widely; that leadership and teamwork skills are valued and that problem solving, reasoning and creativity are consistently rated as highly, if not more highly than computer and tech literacy. Don’t get me wrong, of course STEM subjects are hugely important, but along with the knowledge of these areas has to come the development of individuals to become self-motivated, selforganising, and in the best possible way, self-
Nikky Smedley, Managing Director of changing cultures interested, in order to use that knowledge in ways that move the individual forward, as well as our whole society. Of course digital technology in education is going to get bigger and bigger, and I think at the moment there are few people who really ‘get it’. Children are way ahead of grown-ups in lots of ways, and the role of the teacher is certainly changing. We are no longer the givers of knowledge - children can get that for themselves - we need now to become expert facilitators, encouragers, guides, so that school can act as a filter for them to find out what interests and inspires them and what doesn’t, to help them learn how to find or choose the things that are useful to them in a vast sea of digital information, and to contextualise back into the “real” world which is absolutely vital. And it’s not just in school, in executive education or any other kind of training you may undertake in your professional sphere, we have many and myriad technological tools offered up to us, but it’s important that we remember that they are just that - tools. It is still down to the skill of the teacher or trainer to use what is appropriate, and to guide the learners to make discoveries for themselves, leading them onwards and upwards in this ever changing and developing technological landscape. changing cultures is the UK based consultancy bringing the skills of the creative mindset to the commercial world. The company is new BCC Lithuania overseas member.
BCC paper issue No 53
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IT & EDUCATION
Nordgain. On the path of growth Nordgain is owned and operates as a member of the Lewben Group, an international provider of wealth management solutions to high net worth clients. Through the group, Nordgain has access to additional (e.g. tax, advisory) services. Nordgain is active in Lithuania as well as several international markets. In fact, as Lithuania has become such a force in international service delivery, we view this country not only as an interesting and developing market, but also as an excellent delivery platform that we intend to exploit fully. Regimantas Liepa, Executive Chairman Nordgain
What does Nordgain stand for and what is your business? We define ourselves as a dynamic, innovative and client-centric finance and accounting (F&A) service provider. Our key deliverables are business flexibility and efficiency while our focus lies on providing a high level of quality at mid-market prices. In terms of the market propositions, we are an outsourcer and cover pretty much the entire range of business needs in the areas of financial accounting, payroll and related HR administration services. We are also happy to provide management services that include management accounting reports and an external finance director function.
We see two major ways of how these services are categorised and delivered. First, there is an accounting (that includes audit, tax, management accounting and F&A outsourcing) market and then there is a business process outsourcing (BPO) marketplace part of which is F&A outsourcing. The difference between these two markets is the profile of the client and its needs. Accountants typically provide smaller scale outsourcing services (it is not uncommon that a single accountant may serve over 10 clients). On the other hand, F&A BPO providers deliver larger scale outsourcing projects in the enterprise segment when multiple employees serve a single client. We envisage Nordgain to grow and be active in both of these markets, which provides for a very interesting development agenda in the future.
What is the value proposition of Nordgain? On the accounting services side, the key attributes of our propositions are expert knowledge and exceptional client experience that come with a rational price tag. When we get the right mix, the resulting business relationship becomes harmonious and self-propelling. Ultimately, a client who requires accounting services can expect that through Nordgain he or she will obtain a friendly pair of hands with a keen eye on business efficiency resulting in a strong cost-benefit ratio. On the other hand, in the enterprise BPO space, the key deliverable is business efficiency. This can only be achieved by applying business intelligence (process re-engineering, application of IT tools) and sophisticated management combined with execution techniques. We are quite strong on the accounting service side while the BPO pillar is under development and represents an interesting journey for Nordgain. How has your business developed in recentyears? In fact, we have been quite successful and were recently recognised by Verslo Zinios as the fastest growing F&A business in the country. In the years 2011 to 2014, Nordgain grew by 124% while in 2015 we added another 28% to our revenue. In 2014, after our acquisition by the Lewben Group, we built a strong business platform, attracted capable and talented individuals and accelerated client development. In 2015, we started to pro-
mote Nordgain as a separate F&A business brand of the Lewben Group and we are very pleased that this has already generated positive business results while also becoming more visible publicly. What are your plans and ambitions for 2016 and beyond? In 2016, we will continue strengthening our position in Lithuania (capturing the Baltic markets that we consider our home location) as well as becoming more active in several international markets. The strong and globally recognised development of Lithuania as a shared services and BPO hub presents Nordgain with an excellent basis to deliver our service propositions internationally. Lithuania continues to be an excellent source of talent and remains a great location for the higher value international services that we deliver. How would you describe your BCC membership experience so far? We truly enjoy being present in this forum of diverse businesses. The chamber is extremely forthcoming in helping its members to network and meet interesting people while potentially creating meaningful business opportunities. The events organized by the chamber represent an excellent opportunity to be connected and informed about the current affairs of the British and Lithuanian societies - both very useful and enjoyable. Socially, the activities are also good fun; therefore, we plan to continue being active members and participate as much as we can.
Investor confidence reaches a record high, but labour regulations cause increasing concerns expecting to sustain or further increase both the profitability of their companies and demand for products or services. None of the companies participating in the survey intend to reduce export volume and almost half of them (45%) plan to increase their number of employees.
Vytautas Ulozas, Investors’ Forum Analyst
Foreign companies in Lithuania started the year 2016 full of optimism with the Investor Confidence Index for Lithuania (ICIL) exceeding the record high results of the previous quarter. Positive expectations among the country’s largest investors are mainly driven by favourable firm– specific factors. As many as 98% of CEOs are
While the exceptionally high index value (1,227 points out of 2) has given a reason to celebrate the favourable investment climate of the country, a number of challenges continued to raise serious concerns. Half of the surveyed investors occasionally face problems related to the outdated Labour Code, while almost 47% come across such problems constantly or often. The current Labour Code does not meet the demands of the market and has been constantly criticised both by investors and international organisations. Lithuania managed to reach 13th position in the Index of Economic Freedom,
however, the labour regulations once again received very poor ratings. It is still to be seen whether political leaders will manage to avoid populism and agree on strategic reforms since the failure to adopt the new social model might strongly undermine investors’ confidence in our economy. Participants of the ICIL survey unanimously stressed that if the Lithuanian Government was to achieve only one single goal in 2016, it must be successful Labour Code reform. However, due to the upcoming elections, investors are concerned over the will of the ruling coalition to sustain a strong strategic line: 29% of respondents believe that political stability will diminish in the nearest future. Another cause of investors’ concern is the level of business transparency. 79% of respondents expressed a belief that it is an area demanding
special attention and improvement. According to them, current efforts to increase transparency are not satisfactory. The main competitive advantages of Lithuania remain a well-developed infrastructure, talent pool and low labour costs. It is interesting to note that investors are focusing less on labour costs. It was indicated as the main competitive advantage of Lithuania by 48% of respondents, while 2 years ago the number was as high as 74%. Obviously, in order to maintain or increase the amount of FDI we will have to rethink our strategy and focus not on the low cost of labour, but rather on the lack of qualified labour - as 57% of investors admit it is a problem they face. Therefore comprehensive education system reform, improved immigration policies, and more flexible labour regulations would improve the situation and entrench Lithuania’s position as a strong competitor for foreign direct investments.
What is the value of educating your child in a multilingual context? Here, in Lithuania, Mr. Whittle has carried out consultancy projects for the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Security and Labor, and Sunrise Valley (Saulėtekio slėnis) from 2003 until 2007.
Mark Whittle, EU expert on policy, program and legislative evaluation
Only a few of you might know that there is a French school in Vilnius. Even less of you might know that it is also the biggest international school in town. Interesting facts, aren’t they? We will have a discussion on the importance of multilingualism with Mr. Whittle, who is a European expert on policy, program and legislative evaluation, whose clients include, among others, the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The experience of Mr. M. Whittle is particularly interesting because he embodies the archetypal expatriate having chosen to live in Lithuania while still working in his UK based company and providing services all over Europe. The main subject of this edition is education and the importance of multilingualism. Mark, could you please tell us how you communicate in your everyday life in Lithuania? I have struggled learning Lithuanian, even though I really like the sound of the language. Of course, I am using mostly English but, ironically, I have continued using my French in the personal and professional environment while in Vilnius. Actually, I still use French for my job for some EUwide projects, for instance, when I go to Brussels for meetings on a regular basis. I have also conducted research in France on EU-wide research assignments for our company. For example, I went to Paris last year to discuss venture capital and did some interviews with the regional autho-
rities in Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrenees regions. In the past three years I have met a lot of French people through expatriate community in Vilnius, including those who work at the French school. There seems to be a strong affiliation between France and Lithuania, and now of the people I know love this country. Why have you learned French? I started learning French aged 6 when my parents took me to France for holidays. I then studied French at school from the age of 11 and learnt other languages while at the University (French and Italian). In general terms, what do you think about multilingualism and its importance today? Language skills in key European languages are pretty important in opening up opportunities for young people, not just employment, but also for travelling more extensively and opening up their horizons. As an employer in the UK with only 14 people, we have 2 Germans, 2 Italians, a Dane, a Swede, a South African and a Czech-Finn with South African roots. Multilingualism is one of the things
we look for in potential recruits. The British may under-estimate the need to improve their own language skills since English is the lingua franca but for our staff, it is vital. It is also a sign of intellectual capability more generally if people are able to master several languages. And to finish what do you know about the French School? I don’t have children of my own yet, but a number of my friends do. Some of them send their children to schools in Vilnius, including the French school. I can see big advantages for kids growing up exposed to different languages from an early age. And as my ongoing struggle with learning Lithuanian shows, the earlier they start, the better! By 2016, I see a lot greater French influence than when I arrived in 2003. For instance, there are several French restaurants, French bakeries and even a particular favourite, Sarkozy bar. On the educational level, there is a French school and a French Institute, both of which are flourishing. Thank you. The interview is prepared by Vilnius International French Lyceum, new member of the BCC Lithuania
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
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IT & EDUCATION
Lithuania Expanding Public Data Use Opportunities in Business The databases developed by the state have opened new opportunities for prompt access, not only to one’s own personal data but also to the data of contracting parties and opponents. Attorneys at law face a new challenge – to draw up contracts so that confidential contractual information is not disclosed and does not show up on public databases.
Daiva Dumčiuvienė Senior Associate at law firm Tark Grunte Sutkiene
Lithuania ensures easy access to information about personal property, including land plots, buildings, shares and even money in bank accounts, in particular if the account is under asset freezing (via the Information System of Cash-Flow Restrictions (PLAIS)). Data about the health of persons are also compiled in one database – the so-called ‘e-health system platform. The data stored by public institutions was also accessible earlier, but it was underused. Only the state authorities themselves were able to understand and navigate in their paper archives and they were not required to queue in order to obtain information from a public institution.
The development of public information systems has not only brought about new challenges for the protection of private life but has at the same time created a new market – the market of the re-use of databases with a value of €30 bn in the European Union. This market trades in new IT products and services which are generated from the raw data of public databases. There is the Credit info system in Lithuania. It has been developed by private capital, merged individual public databases and offered a new product – the register of debtors ‘Credit Bureau’. Re-use means more than merely receiving information from a register – it means obtaining information from a register in order to re-use the same data from the register for a fee on the market for a new product or service. The basis for the above-described data opening opportunities is not only the Lithuanian legislation but also the 2008 OECD Recommendation of the Council for Enhanced Access and More Effective
Charting the Course to Become a Global IT Leader One way that Lithuania is developing as a viable location to hire IT talent is by investing in innovative technology education initiatives, including: • IT Academics: programs at local IT companies offer free, intensive IT training with top performers transitioning into guaranteed jobs . • University and College Collaboration with Employers: higher education institutions have started introducing new IT degree programs in partnership with corporations. Mantautas Paskevicius, Country Manager, Strategic Staffing Solutions International
The worldwide shortage of skilled IT professionals is undeniable. With new technologies, such as cloud computing and mobile applications, emerging and expanding so quickly today, the competition for IT talent is even greater. Companies – and countries -- around the world are competing to attract, develop and retain the best talent. And Lithuania is doing pretty well. This year, Lithuania won five major awards at the Central and Eastern Europe Shared Services and Outsourcing Awards, including Vilnius winning the “Most Dynamically Developing City” in the region and Kaunas winning the top prize for “Emerging City of the Year.” This month, Staffing Industry Analysts – the global industry advisory group – named Lithuania in the top five “most attractive markets in the world” for staffing, ahead of Germany, South Korea and the United States. Lithuania’s well-educated and highly productive talent pool is getting noticed around the world. As a global provider of IT and business services, Strategic Staffing Solutions International (S3I) knows this first hand. We have invested in Lithuania as our international headquarters for more than 17 years, because of the country’s talent and its attractive, dynamic business environment. In addition to staff recruitment, training and project management, S3I helps global companies build shared service centers in Lithuania, as an alternative to traditional outsourcing. So far, S3I has helped to establish seven new centers which, altogether, employ more than 5,000 professional resources in IT, software development, network administration, finance, data analysis, and general administration roles.
• Specialized scholarships, and practical training and internship opportunities are also growing • Scandinavian Language Training: several companies offer Norwegian and Swedish language courses to newly hired and existing employees, so they can integrate into regional IT teams better. • Hackathons: S3I and other companies organize concentrated programming sessions that can last a few hours or a few days and let software developers tackle a specialized challenge and learn from experts in the field who also participate. There is also a lot more work for Lithuania to do. Here’s a short list of top priorities: • Prioritize and increase the number of students admitted into STEM, IT and Life Science programs • Update and reintroduce programming, web development, games and applications into the school curriculum to attract more students to the ICT professions. • Teach more Scandinavian and Western European languages at all levels…yes, this will increase employment of IT professionals – who are scarce and extremely expensive in the Scandinavian and Western European countries • Pass sensible reform and modernization of the labor code – it can and should be the best in Europe – that will encourage employers to create more professional opportunities. Realizing these goals, coupled with programs that are already successfully underway, will keep Lithuania out in front in the global competition for IT talent and jobs.
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Use of Public Sector Information, as well as EU directives. In 2010 the European Commission initiated public consultations where 95 per cent of the respondents supported further actions by the European Commission to simplify the use of data, opening the way for the development of new services and innovations. Directive 2013/37/ EU obligates Member States to allow re-using the information which has been recognised as public in the Member State (where the right of access exists).
98% of homes. Despite some good examples for the digitisation of public services, progress is still needed in the specific area of Open Data. Lithuania’s ICT infrastructure has received a highly positive assessment in the Business Process Outsourcing and Shared Service Location Index of 2015. This Index has been published by the real estate agency Cushman & Wakefield. The Index has ranked Lithuania as Top 1 by business conditions in the world, ahead of the Netherlands (Top 2) and the UK (Top 3).
The charges for the use of databases should not be excessive, i.e. public sector bodies may not charge more for the re-use of the database than the marginal costs incurred in the production, reproduction and dissemination of documents. This means that the fees charged by registers for the use of databases should decrease In Lithuania because they cover all administration costs, including a reasonable return on investment.
The Doing Business rating of the business conditions published by the World Bank ranks Lithuania 20th as certain changes have been introduced recently, including reforms to reduce the amount of time it takes to open a new business, with the availability of technical facilities to register companies and their incorporation documents online.
Lithuania is making gradual efforts addressing the issues related to the re-use of databases in favour of the business sector. On 25 February 2016, the European Commission published The Digital Economy & Society Index (DESI 2016) where Lithuania ranks thirteenth out of 28 EU Member States. Lithuania is one of the leaders in NGA rollout. Fast broadband (+30 MBps) is available to
This article has been prepared by commercial law firm Tark Grunte Sutkiene which has offices in all of the Baltic countries. Our mission is not only to be the best legal experts in our region, but to use our expertise, experience and skills to support the business of our clients. We believe lawyers should not only be experts in law – the real added value for our clients comes from our ability to help them succeed in their business objectives.
BCC paper issue No 53
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CHRONICLE OF BCC EVENTS
17th Burns Night in Vilnius moves to a new venue and raises a record amount for the charities On Saturday, January 23rd, the British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania held its 17th Annual, Traditional Burns Night, Charity Event to celebrate the birthday of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) and to raise funds for the local charities. The most popular event in January this year was held in a new prestigious venue – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and attracted nearly 300 guests. 17th Burns Night raised 8.080 EUR, which is a record amount raised since the year 2000 and will be shared by NGO “Vaiko labui” – part of the British Charity Partnership for Children and “SOS Vaikų Kaimai“. Chris Butler, the chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce and MC of this event expressed his appreciation to all, who are supporting the Chambers’ annual fund-raising initiative: “The event has become the main vehicle through which the members and guests of the British Chamber raise funds for good charitable causes. Over the 17 years we have helped 20 different charities ranging from orphanage homes, cancer charities, addiction centres to help-lines and a number of educational projects. In total nearly 70.000 EUR has been raised since the first Burns Night in Vilnius.” As appropriate, 17th Burns Night in Vilnius was celebrated in a true Scottish manner and had most of the essentials necessary for a successful event. The haggis was ceremonially piped in and “The Address to a Haggis” was recited by Colin Lawrie, the Honorary Piper and Past President of Dumbarton Burns Club, who also toasted “The Immortal Memory” later in the evening. This year Guests had an opportunity to be introduced to the finest Scottish tenor John Craig Innes. The ceilidh dancing this year was led by traditional music band “RERR TERR”, making their debut in Lithuania, which was a great success. After the midnight the Scottish night was continued in at Bar Le Salon, Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square. The supported charities in 2016: “Vaiko labui”– part of the British Charity Partnership for Children. Their principal activity are two programmes called Zippy’s Friends and Apple’s Friends, which are run in kindergartens and primary schools across Lithuania. The programmes promote the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children between the ages of 3 to 6, and 7 to 9. The money raised will be used to develop a special programme for children with special needs in Lithuania. www.vaikolabui.lt SOS Children’s Villages in Lithuania (SOS Vaiku Kaimai) providing professional, family-based care and support for children deprived of parental care, orphans or children whose families cannot take care of them. The money raised will support a programme called “My future”. This programme is aimed at children between the ages of 13 to 17. It aims to develop their understanding of their personality, skills, talents and the variety of professions, in order to help them plan their future. We are expecting to be able to fund this programme for 45 teenagers from high risk families in Vilnius and Varėna. www.sos-vaikukaimai.lt
The chamber expresses its enormous gratitude to 17th Burns Night sponsors, charity raffle and auction sponsors and partners Premier sponsor
General sponsors
Sponsors
Photos by Martynas Zaremba
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
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CHRONICLE OF BCC EVENTS Monthly Breakfast Technical Briefings continue in 2016
BCC Members meet with Remigijus Šimašius, Mayor of Vilnius
BCC traditional monthly Breakfast Technical Briefing in January covered the “Changes in tax legislation” presented by Vita Šumskaitė, Senior Tax Manager at KPMG. The topic attracted an interest from members and involved the audience interaction after presentation. The event was held at Shakespeare hotel, where business networking was enriched by morning coffee and excellent English breakfast.
In February, members of the British Chamber of Commerce were invited to attend business meeting and lunch with Remigijus Šimašius, Mayor of Vilnius. The meeting was held in a Sky bar of Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva. The Mayor of Vilnius presented the developments and key priorities that should drive Vilnius forward. In his presentation the Mayor focused on city finances, strategic development projects and liveability priorities for multicultural talent within the city. The event was moderated by Chris Butler, BCC Chairman of the Board, who initiated a lively discussion fulfilled with plenty of questions and suggestions from the BCC members incuding some UK‘s best practice examples. Later, all participants were invited to continue discussion and enjoy excellent buffet-lunch served in the Sky Bar. The title page of this BCC paper issue is also featering the article prepared by the Mayor‘s office, where you can read more about Vilnius progress and development plans.
Vita Šumskaitė, Senior Tax Manager at KPMG
Robert Juodka, VARUL, moderating the discussion
Breakfast Technical Briefing in February, hosted Dr. Rasa Ališauskienė, General Director of Baltic Surveys / Gallup Organization, who made a presentation “Dynamics of the former Soviet Union countries - from the perspective of public opinion”. The speaker provided interesting facts about political and economic attitudes in former USSR countries in the last decades, spoke about changes of public opinion in those different countries and what can investors learn from that.
Dr. Rasa Ališauskienė, Baltic Surveys / Gallup Orgnization
Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius
Chris Butler, BCC Chairman of the Board
Over 60 BCC members attending the meeting
Question by Mantautas Paškevičius, S3
The audience.
The chamber expresses thanks to Green cafe and Shakespeare boutique hotel for kindly establishing excellent prizes during the season
BCC SPONSOR MEMBERS
Photos by Jurga Prakapaitė
Both events were moderated by Robert Juodka, Managing Partner and Attorney-at-Law at VARUL and BCC Board member.
BCC paper issue No 53
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IT & EDUCATION
csc baltic: A Global Perspective from Vilnius Application Delivery, Business Process Outsourcing, Project and Programme Management, Solution Architecture, Operations Delivery, Service Management, Service Desk, Global Sales Hub, Cybersecurity, Agility Platform, Global Storage and Backup Services. We serve clients in the Nordic and Baltic region, the United States, Asia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Central and Southern Europe. Perhaps you could provide a few examples of recent projects to give us a better flavour of your work?
Though by no means a large market in its own right, Lithuania’s worldview is increasingly global, as evidenced by the growing interest of companies with a global presence setting up regional offices in the country. The BCC recently talked to the Managing Director of CSC Baltic, Antanas Uršulis, about his company’s reasons for coming to Lithuania and to see how things are going. Could you describe briefly what services you provide to your various customers? CSC leads clients on their digital transformation journeys. The company provides innovative nextgeneration technology services and solutions that leverage deep industry expertise, global scale, technology independence and an extensive partner community. CSC Baltic is a subsidiary of CSC and ended 2015 with almost 500 employees. Our company successfully operates within a number of areas, such as Global Business Service
In solution-led industries, our key focus is on selling next-generation solutions such as: MyWorkStyle, Hybrid Cloud Solutions, including Agility platform, Application Modernisation, and Enterprise Next-Generation Applications with partners such as Salesforce, Workday, and ServiceNow. Talking about recent success stories in our region, I would like to mention that CSC has entered an agreement with the utility company, Forsyning Helsingør, to outsource their IT infrastructure to CSC over the next four years. Moreover, the Danish ambulance service, which have become started utilising CSC‘s Pre Hospital Solution (PPJ Project), has been nominated for one of the most respected Digital awards for the most successful IT project within the Danish public sector. What role does the Lithuanian office have in your organisation? CSC Nordic and Baltic delivers innovative IT solutions to businesses and public institutions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Today, we have ten offices and approximately 2,300 employees in the region.
Lithuania and Vilnius were selected as a great location to provide outsourcing services, so the implementation of the delivery centre began on September 1st 2007 and was officially opened in March 2008. This year we are celebrating our eighth birthday, while continuing to operate successfully within various areas and expanding the team constantly. CSC Baltic serves Nordic, EMEA countries and supports other CSC organisations worldwide with highly skilled personnel. We have a wide range of roles to fulfil the development and delivery of our solutions, mentioned above: agents, engineers, architects, project managers, analysts, programmers and others. You arrange a number of special events and programmes that are aimed towards recruiting young workers. Does Lithuania provide a steady stream of qualified recruits? Are there any strengths you can identify that makes Lithuania stand out in terms of its workforce? We are constantly looking for a wide variety of employees. Actually, this summer we had a record number of open positions at CSC Baltic and currently have approximately 60 openings. The full spectrum of necessary employees is very broad, from junior customer service specialists to experienced IT solution architects, project managers, JAVA programmers, SAP and Storage specialists. It is no secret that specialists from Lithuania develop great careers in international companies. This is the result of their professional, effective, thorough and responsible performance. The ability to work well in a team and to lead specialists from different countries is also a factor. This trend has been evident for a number of years and looks likely to continue – Lithuanian specialists continue to hold high positions and attain excellent results in global corporations.
In CSC’s global environment, this trend is also pronounced. This is the main reason why our Vilnius centre continues expanding and why we are looking to fill more positions. It is noteworthy that we are unable to hire certain specialists because of a lack of certain competencies. To be more specific, the Lithuanian labour market simply does not offer such skills. Where this happens, we train such specialists ourselves, investing additional resources in their training and preparation. What advice would you give to any young, talented technology specialists reading this article about forging a career in this sector? CSC Baltic is constantly growing, and not just in terms of the number of employees, but also in the range of services we provide. We are developing our company as a High Value Service Centre or, in other words, a Centre of Excellence for CSC solutions. Our company closely cooperates with all the major universities in Lithuania, because we believe that the partnership between business and education could help reduce the gap between theory and the practical skills needed. We plan to enhance our cooperation with educational institutions and to work to improve various competences to meet the needs of the modern market. There are different selection criteria and methods for each division and position in our company. However, it is essential that the values possessed by the prospective employee match the ones required by CSC Baltic. Quite frequently we happen to hire people who do not have the required experience or competences, but possess an expressed willingness to learn, have strong motivation, are not afraid of challenges and are prepared to work in an international company.
How do you maximise your training effectiveness?
Steve Neale, Europe’s Leading Expert on Personal and Professional Growth
“It costs billions!” What does? Training. Every year Billions of Euros, Dollars, Pounds and any other currency you can think of are spent on training employees across the world. In fact… A recent survey across the US and Europe showed that over 80% of companies invest in training. That’s why it really amazes me… …that so many companies do not calculate their return on investment (ROI) after training. I have had hundreds of meetings with international companies interested in my virtual and
blended learning leadership programmes, and one of the first questions I ask is… …how are we going to calculate your ROI? And sadly, most don’t know the answer as they haven’t even thought about this question. So I help them. Think about it… Would you get your car repaired and then be happy for it to work for just 2 weeks before it broke down again? Would you buy a new TV and be happy if it only worked for 20% of the time? Would you buy a chocolate cake and be happy if it didn’t contain any chocolate? So why do many companies invest huge amounts of money in training and then forget about the ROI and the follow up? Beats me! It’s almost as if they are happy to spend the money and justify using the allocated training budget. So here’s a few concrete tips that will help you maximize your ROI in training: • Start by linking the training to measurable outcomes. There are too many to list here but examples could be having a built in measure in the training (such as my Limbic Performance Indicator Emotional Intelligence report), retention rates, absenteeism, sales results, links to internal company performance surveys, attrition rates and customer satisfaction rates (in fact I used all of these with a recent training I did with one client).
• Always ask 2 key questions before starting the training: What will be the benefits to the trainees and the company if this training is a success? What will be the costs to trainees and the company if we do not do this training and we change nothing? • Always choose training programmes that offer a chance for follow up and allow learning to take place in regular, small amounts over a longer time period rather than one intensive day or two. One of the reasons I have developed my online Limbic Performance System for Outstanding Leadership is to allow people to learn and repeat the learning whenever they want, 24/7. Research shows this is far more effective than the traditional intensive classroom experience of training, where most of what is learned is forgotten when people return to work - the so-called “Honeymoon Effect”.
• Change your learning environment and make it stimulating. Another reason I developed the LPS Online Programme that you can watch on your phone or tablet is so you can take your learning to different environments. Studies show we learn more effectively in stimulating environments, such as in a place of beauty in nature. And if you find yourself limited to classroom/office learning, make sure you decorate the room with inspiring pictures and messages and make it a fun environment. • Have a simple follow up reporting tool for measuring the implementation both quantitatively and qualitatively. (I am currently developing an App to do this). So make sure you get regular feedback from the delegates after the training modules on what they have been applying and how it has helped them in their performance.
• Repeat and repeat and then…repeat. The Hebbian Effect shows us that “brain cells that fire together, wire together.” This means that if we repeat what we have learned regularly after the initial learning we grow new learning pathways in the brain that will become hard wired. Once they are hard wired the new learning has become a habit – we just do it without thinking.
So I’m off to deliver an effective training programme that is going to make a lot of money for one of my clients.
• Teach others. As soon as you complete any training make a plan of how and when you will teach what you have learned to others. Teaching others requires active learning – so we really have to show we have understood the learning and can interpret in a way that makes sense to us.
To find out more about how I can help your company make money from investing in the right training and to set up a FREE trial of the LPS for your company, just email me at: steve@stevenealeinternational.com
How about you? How are you going to make sure your next training is effective? Here’s to your training success!
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
11 AIG Vilnius’ shared service centre well settled in Vilnius Since it was established in 2014, AIG Vilnius SSC has reached several important milestones. In January 2015 AIG launched its first service for clients in Europe. By June 2015, the Lithuanian branch had over 100 employees, and by September this had increased to more than 200. In November the company completed its move to the new office on Konstitucijos Ave. 29, Vilnius and now has nearly 300 employees. The team provides services to 11 European countries, speaking 12 foreign languages. AIG Lithuania has attracted people of 14 different nationalities, forming a colourful, vibrant and dynamic team. Having survived the Lithuanian winter (which was not an issue for those coming from Finland but a bit of a struggle for those from Malaysia), the team is now looking forward to getting involved in a variety of corporate social responsibility activities. AIG Lithuania has also collaborated with several Lithuanian universities, resulting in active participation in Career days, internship programmes being offered and student projects being supported by the centre. Taking everything into account, AIG has now become a permanent, recognisable landmark in the Vilnius shared services sector.
Aviva Lietuva: life insurance market leader
Aviva Lietuva marked a new business milestone this year: 15 years of business operations in Lithuania and occupying the leading position in the life insurance market for the second year in a row. In 2015 the company strengthened its position as market leader and increased its gross written premiums market share to 22%. “Aviva Lietuva achieved the position of market leader thanks to our long-term and sustainable approach to business. Our main goal is to develop a long-term relationship with our customers, to be the most trusted financial provider and
certainly to ensure responsible management of customers’ funds. Every customer gets a personal financial adviser, who is trained to tailor advice and financial products to the best interest of the customer”, says Asta Grabinskė, the CEO of Aviva Lietuva. The company’s life insurance business volume increased by 19% as gross written premiums reached €52.3 million in 2015. Aviva Lietuva has also maintained the leading market position in benefit payments to life insurance customers: claims paid increased by 12% to €3.1 million. “In the environment of zero interest-rates, people are keen to look for modern saving instruments such as unit linked life insurance which covers both: financial security in case of accident or illness and also savings for the future plans”, Grabinskė added. Aviva Lietuva is also among the country’s top three Pillar II pension providers. The company begins 2016 well positioned to ensure the safe financial future of its 270,000 customers under contract in Lithuania.
COBALT recognised as the leading M&A legal adviser in Lithuania in 2015 In terms of the individual Lithuanian M&A market sectors, the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) sector generated the largest number of deals last year.
COBALT was the leading M&A legal adviser in Lithuania in 2015 when ranked by the number of deals it was involved in, the Lithuanian daily Verslo žinios and the Financial Analysts Association announced. In 2015, Cobalt advised in 18 successful transactions meeting the criteria set by the Financial Analysts Association. Dr Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner at COBALT, described the last few months of 2015 as extremely busy for the Lithuanian M&A market.
The Pain Treatment Center was opened at the end of 2015 which immediately attracted considerable interest and showed the high demand for pain treatment procedures. A great variety of specialists is always ready to help you to overcome any kind of pain. Patients often complain of headaches, back and joint pain, and unfortunately most of them still tend to suffer from these symptoms. Professional specialists
Kaunas IT specialists join into “KIT club” community Specialists and enthusiasts of information technology living in Kaunas, the second biggest city in Lithuania, have united to form a community named “KIT club”. The name derives from Kaunas and the IT abbreviation. “We came up with the idea of bringing together IT professionals from different companies and industries. “KIT Club” is an open community, designed to provide a unique opportunity to learn about the latest IT developments through training, selfdevelopment and networking”, says Dainius Aksinavicius, Head of the Kaunas office for “Callcredit Information Group”, a British consumer data management company.
At the moment Mr. Aksinavicius’ team members are the main organisers of the Club’s meetings. The founding “KIT Club” event was held at the end of last year at Callcredit Information Group’s Kaunas office, it focussed on the SQL programming language and attracted 40 people. The recent event on testing invited community members to meet at the Zalgiris Arena and was even more successful with three keynote speakers from different companies and over 100 testers attending. “It seems that “KIT Club” satisfies specialists’ willingness to share and socialise. We hope that more and more enthusiasts and companies will get involved in the activities of this community, which is proving to be a popular and necessary initiative”, says Mr. Aksinavicius.
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COBALT was launched in 2015 by Raidla Lejins & Norcous (Latvia and Lithuania) and LAWIN (Estonia). Since1st January 2016, the law firms BORENIUS and COBALT have completed their merger in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus. The merger has resulted in the creation of the biggest legal team in the region with more than 180 attorneys and lawyers.
“Comfort Hotel LT - Rock‘n‘roll Vilnius“ is the ruler of Vilnius city’s guests hearts, and is also acknowledged internationally This hotel is a part of the Nordic Choice Hotels group. Nordic Choice operates 179 hotels in Nordic countries. Every year this chain organises an award ceremony which recognises the best hotels in the group. This year, the hotel was nominated for 5 categories : the Best social media 2015, the cleanest hotel 2015, Comfort hotel of the year, the Best employee and the Best front office team. The hotel won 2 awards, for the best Social media and for the Cleanest hotel 2015. TripAdvisor – one of the most popular online travel sites included “Comfort Hotel LT - Rock‘n‘roll Vilnius“ in its „Top 10 hotel – Lithuania“ list. The hotel is the only facility in the top five without a five star rating.
CSC’s Graduate Program: Finding The Next Talents The program offers positions in six different business areas within CSC’s Nordic & Baltic organisation: Application Development, Architecture, Business Management, Contract Management, Project Management, and Sales.
New Aid for Patients - Pain Treatment Center recommend treating the illness on time because untreated or improperly treated acute pain becomes chronic which leads to difficulty concentrating on work or other activities, communicating with family members and friends and disturbs sleep patterns. Open & endoscopic spine surgeries and pain treatment with lasers, which is an innovative procedure in Lithuania, are the options available to treat the illness. Interventional procedures, specialists – neurologists, psychologists, orthopedists, neurosurgeons and physical medicine & rehabilitation physicians – are used separately or as a combination in order to provide overall help for our patients. Don’t wait until the pain overcomes you, see a specialist at the Pain Treatment Center in the Baltic-American Medical & Surgical Clinic!
A discernible trend observed last year was a growing number of investments in startups and higher amounts involved in such investments. If the Lithuanian startup boom continues at the current rate, perhaps we will not have to wait long before we see the arrival of the first Lithuanian unicorn (a unicorn company is a startup valued in excess of $1 billion).
Do you want to be part of an amazing CSC team, delivering some of the world’s most challenging and complex IT solutions? Join CSC‘s Graduate Program – a 2-year training program run in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Lithuania. What makes CSC’s Graduate Program unique is its individual approach. It has a flexible structure that is open for adaptations throughout the training as well as the individual guidance that is designed to support professional development, specific needs, and a future career in CSC.
During the program, all the participants receive a comprehensive introduction to CSC’s global organisation and depending on their qualifications and goals, they might get the chance to rotate within CSC to further strengthen their profiles. CSC is looking for hard-working and ambitious graduates who want to build and develop an interesting future. If you are eager to take part in the company‘s growth agenda and ready to take on amazing challenges, CSC is waiting for you! All the information about the Graduate Program 2016 and application process can be found here: http://www.csc.com/talent
Law firm “Bukauskas ir Partneriai” changes its name into “PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal Bukauskas ir partneriai” On 3 May 2016 Law firm “Bukauskas ir Partneriai” was permitted to be named under the global legal services network “PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal”. Law firm “Bukauskas ir Partneriai” was established on 21 August 2014. The law firm offers legal advice on mergers & acquisitions, employment and employee mobility, real estate and finance law, and represents clients in legal disputes. Since 2014 Law firm “Bukauskas ir Partneriai” is a part of PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal the broadest geographical coverage of any legal services network in Central and Eastern Europe. PwC Legal operates in 83 countries with more than 2,400 professionals. Moreover, PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal network aligns the major countries of Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and the Benelux.
According to Mr Rokas Bukauskas, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal in Lithuania: “We are delighted to be named under one of the broadest legal services network. This fact gives us the right to clearly communicate the partnership with one of the world’s strongest brands. International legal experience, integrated legal advice alongside with other PwC tax, management and financial advisory teams, will distinct us from other law firms. Our clients will benefit by receiving the right expertise for the highest quality integrated services from professionals in 83 countries. We will assist our clients to reach the goals of their commercial projects and we will make sure that they get more added value from us.”
BCC paper issue No 53
12 Inga Klimašauskienė has become an associate partner at GLIMSTEDT Inga Klimašauskienė has become an associate partner of the GLIMSTEDT Law Firm and will be responsible for the Employment Law Practice Group. Through more than 10 years of professional activities, Inga Klimašauskienė has accumulated a huge amount of experience as a consultation lawyer with international companies in Lithuania, and has represented them in pre-trial institutions as well as in court. She is an active participant in the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA), which unites leading experts from the fields of European employment law and organisations for uniting business institutions (Lithuanian Business Confederation, Security Business Group, etc.) to arrange and provide advice on the laws to be included in the new Labour Code. In addition, Inga Klimašauskienė is active in the academic activities at Vilnius University. GLIMSTEDT is one of the largest and best-evaluated law firms in Lithuania. GLIMSTEDT continues to develop strong international relations and participate in many major local and international interactions, while also representing its clients in significant arbitration and court proceedings. GLIMSTEDT bureaus are established in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden.
Provident has changed! Provident has changed. The new Provident brand reflects the modernisation of our business and our investment to take the most of the opportunities we will face in the nearest future. The new brand identity is linked to success and the positive wind of change. Lithuania is one of the first countries, together with Mexico, which will start using the company’s new logo. In 2016 all countries in the International Personal Finance (IPF) Group will start using the new brand. Colourful, innovative and friendly – these are the words that describe the new Provident brand. With new coloring the logo is lighter, brighter and more youthful than before. The new brand was created by an advertising agency in Great Britain. Customer research in the largest IPF Group markets – Poland and Hungary has shown that the new logo is seen as modern and eye-catching.
Higher education growth soft worldwide UK) showing outright declines in the number of higher education establishments over the period. Emerging economies did not show similar fallow growth, though higher education expansion in these markets was not extraordinary either. China, on the back of consistently high GDP growth over the period, only saw around 2% establishment growth, underscoring the difficulty of building and opening large-scale higher education institutions.
MRU students will be able to work in international digital contents production companies
prehensively understand and apply knowledge related to digital contents production, by fostering entrepreneurship and self-employment in this field, thus ensuring the usage of informaticsbased methods which are applied in game, digital animation and visual effects creation platforms. This will enable the application of interdisciplinary knowledge through technical and creative interactions in material and digital media systems. Assoc. prof. Tadas Limba, head of the programme
Informatics and Digital Contents is a joint Mykolas Romeris University Business and Media School‘s study programme with Dongseo University (South Korea). The initial two years of studies will be held at MRU, with the final two years of studies taking place at Dongseo University. The purpose of this programme is to prepare qualified specialists in the field of informatics who would be able to adapt their knowledge in the game, digital animation and audiovisual effect industries. It will also prepare students to com-
Such areas as computer games, the movie industry, advertisement, and art and design are the target domains for employability of Informatics and Digital Contents study programme graduates. Assoc. prof. Tadas Limba, Study Director of MRU Business and Media School, highlights, that students graduating from the Informatics and Digital Contents study programme will be able to work in various digital contents production companies – international computer game studios, design agencies, movie studios, and all business organisations that are orientated towards the creation of digital production by using ICT.
Causes of infertility: investigation and treatment with the newest methods
On 12 February of this year, “Northway” Medical and Surgical Centre conducted training on Transvaginal Endoscopy with the participation of Gints Treijs, Juris Vitols, and Egils Gasinsthe, the well-known infertility specialists from “Embrions” Medical Centre for Reproductive Medicine in Riga. During this training, Rolandas Žiobakas, an obstetrician gynaecologist from “Northway” Fertility Centre, shared his experience on the optimal usage of minimally invasive endoscopic methods of diagnostics in identification of possible causes for female infertility as accurately as possible.
Some facts about Provident Finansai Provident Finansai is part of the Internal Personal Finance Group which was founded 130 years ago. IPF has 7,000 employees and 2.64 million customers worldwide. IPF is one of the biggest British employers in Central and Eastern Europe. The Provident brand operates in the following markets: Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Mexico, Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria. Since the acquisition of the MCB Finance Group plc in 2015 the company has also operated in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Australia. IPF shares are quoted on the London and Warsaw stock exchanges.
Matthew Oster, Senior Analyst at Euromonitor International
From 2005 to 2015, growth in higher education openings worldwide was limited, on the back of persistent budget concerns and soft enrolment figures in developed markets. As a result, no developed economy showed a CAGR for the period over 2%, with some (e.g. Japan and the
India is the counter example to this trend, both in number of institutions (as the country has more than five times the number of such institutions than the US) and in growth. This is due both to the country’s fast economic growth over the period and the preponderance of smaller, occupational colleges rather than larger research universities that dominate elsewhere in the world.
Games Industry Law Summit to be held in Vilnius for the second time The gathering in Vilnius for a Games Industry Law Summit on April 28-29 will bring together professionals from over 19 countries, representing games industry companies with exceptional experience in games development such as Valve, GOG, Wargaming, Nordeus and Riotgames. The event, to be held for the second time in Vilnius, will bring together prominent industry speakers such as S. Gregory Boyd (Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, USA), Tobias Schelinski (Taylor Wessing, DE), Tobias Haar (Gameforge Group, DE), Roman Zanin (Wargaming.net, CY), Jas Purewal (Purewal & Partners, UK), Fred Fierst (Fierst, Kane & Bloomberg LLP, US) and many others. On the table during two days of presentations
and panel sessions will be the most up-to-theminute gaming industry topics such as e-sports, conflict resolution case studies, games industry M&A, venture capital, tax issues, data protection, IP, and more. The summit is organized by SORAINEN, a leading law firm in the Baltics and Belarus and the only law firm in the region with a dedicated games industry law practice in collaboration with Charlie Oscar, an independent studio created by industry veterans in order to develop & release original properties.
According to Rolandas Žiobakas, it is a known fact that the cause of infertility remains unexplained in up to 30% of cases. Due to the unknown origin of infertility, the couple is advised to use Assisted Reproductive Technologies, such as Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) or In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). However, even today we encounter the situation wherein these complicated and expensive treatment methods are being recommended for couples that did not undergo a comprehensive infertility evaluation, and consequently such an approach led to the problem of infertility being left behind without solving it.
Lithuanian Staffing Market is Now Recognized Globally
“Northway” Medical and Surgical Centre is the only private medical centre in Lithuania that offers a versatile evaluation of infertility with the use of minimally invasive transvaginal endoscopic methods and together succeeds in treating infertility with the help of advanced and effective infertility treatment techniques.
Rating ten components on a scale of one to 10, a matrix was developed to show each countries’ individual scores and their overall rankings. While Lithuania’s overall score was 70, it scored perfect 10s in two of SIA’s benchmarks: projected staffing market growth for 2016 and long-term growth potential.
The team of professional and experienced specialists at “Northway” Fertility Centre is proud of the high percentage of successful infertility treatment cases with the Assisted Reproductive Procedures (57%), and especially of the outcome of TESA/ICSI procedures (83% successful cases) in 2015.
“This is good news for Strategic Staffing Solutions International,” said S3I’s Country Manager Mantautas Paskevicius, “but this report only reinforces what we already knew about Lithuania. We’re ranked number one in productivity growth and the country’s labor costs are four times lower than that of Western Europe. A full 91 percent of
Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), the global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions, released in February its list of “Most Attractive Staffing Markets Globally,” and Lithuania presented a strong showing in the staffing front. Assessing some 60 staffing firms across six continents and a set of 10 criteria, Lithuania ranked fifth in the top tier of SIA’s list of Most Attractive Staffing Markets Globally.
Lithuanians have a secondary education and 51 percent have a higher education. Lithuania is also ranked number one for technological readiness.” Founded in Lithuania in 1999 by parent company Strategic Staffing Solutions, S3I is a global provider of business and IT services, which include staff recruitment and training; managed service programs; project solutions; talent market analysis; and “build-operate-transfer” services. With industry expertise in financial services; insurance; IT; energy/utilities; and retail, S3 is financially strong, debt-free, with multiple years of more than $300 million annual turnover, with an additional $85 million invoiced as managed service provider. From its offices in Vilnius, S3I also sources talent from all over Europe. S3I is ranked the No. 1 supplier for many major companies and has been named the “Most Productive Service Company” for two consecutive years by Creditinfo. S3I has recently been nominated as one of the top ten “Best Recruitment Firms of the Year in Central and Eastern Europe” by CEE Shared Services and Outsourcing Forum.
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
13 VIP Terminal at Vilnius Airport: top-quality service and comfort
PZU Lietuva has become public limited insurance company Gjensidige
According to him, business development in the country, strengthening international ties and trade, as well as foreign companies opening their branches in Lithuania, will determine the growing number of passengers who expect to get business class and exceptional services in the country’s major airport.
The customers of the VIP Terminal at Vilnius Airport may enjoy the possibilities of private rest and work. A separate space designed next to the main passenger terminal welcomes those passengers of Lithuania’s largest air gateway who are willing to avoid all usual air travel related troubles. Ticket and baggage check-in, aviation security screening, customs and border control procedures will be handled by the terminal staff. According to Artūras Stankevičius, General Manager of Vilnius Airport, customer service quality and a high-level service guarantee are among the priorities of Vilnius Airport. “Our aim is to provide high-quality services with due regard to the needs of each passenger who visits the airport. We continuously evaluate the level of satisfaction of departing and arriving passengers; we try to identify their expectations carefully, to listen to their wishes and, based on them, offer an adequate level of service. Of course, the usual services do not suffice for some passengers. These airport guests are the target users of the VIP Terminal where passengers can wait for their flight without any worries and enjoy a top quality service,” said Artūras Stankevičius.
In addition to other advantages, the Vilnius Airport VIP Terminal also offers a fast wireless Internet connection; guests are invited to enjoy soft or alcoholic beverages, to have a cup of coffee and sweets and to read the latest press releases in a cosy bar. There is a convenient working room supplied with the required equipment for those who wish to use the time before the flight productively. The passengers who require complete privacy are welcome to use the “President’s Room” where guests can rest or work uninterrupted, like in a private hotel room. In 2014 the renovated Business Lounge was opened at Vilnius Airport under the name of the luxury brand “IDW Esperanza Resort”. The latter is a member the Small Luxury Hotels of the World network uniting most luxurious independent hotels around the world. Over a year since the renovation of the lounge, the flows of business passengers in Lithuania’s major airport grew by nearly one tenth and by roughly half since the establishment of the Business Lounge in 1997.
Following the takeover of UAB DK PZU Lietuva by the leading Nordic insurance group Gjensidige last autumn, the company has changed its name and legal form into the public limited insurance company Gjensidige as of 1st March 2016. The Gjensidige Group will initially operate via two companies in the Baltics – Gjensidige Baltic and ADB Gjensidige. In the longer run, the two companies will be merged into one. According to ADB Gjensidige CEO Marius Jundulas, the changing of the name is an important milestone in the process of integration of Gjensidige companies in the Baltic States. Mr. Jundulas offered assurance that the company will continue providing the highest quality insurance coverage and claims handling. Marius Jundulas specifically noted that clients or business partners do not have to amend or redraft any contracts concluded with PZU Lietuva. Gjensidige is a leading Nordic insurance group listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It has about 3,900 employees and offers insurance products in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Baltic states. In Norway, the group also offers banking, pensions and savings. Operating income was NOK 24 billion in 2015, while total assets were NOK 129 billion.
Enjoy the spring at „Vanagupe“ The spring is here! Longer and warmer days invite you for a short break! Spend your weekend in the most popular Lithuanian resort Palanga, staying at the 5-star hotel Vanagupe. With its perfect blend of comfort, luxury and functionality, the hotel is the perfect place for both leisure and business. “Vanagupe” is proud to present a new member of the team – Head Chef Saulius Skisnys. Inspired by his previous experience and curiosity for new ideas, Saulius is ready to surprise Vanagupe restaurant guests with exceptional dishes and tastes. The Chef presents his brand new a la carte menu and has a particular focus on freshness and gourmet taste, reflecting the season of the year. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy a real gourmet dinner prepared by Saulius Siksnys at Vanagupe!
Vilnius Airport is an important air transport centre in the region recording growth in passenger numbers every year. During the previous year Vilnius Airport serviced 3.3 million passengers, which is 13.4 % more than the previous year.
Brit in Lithuania de this the discoveries of Lithuanian composers really attracted me, as many composers offer really curious responses to many of the major developments over the past 150 years. These two factors are really what drove me here. Do you take inspiration from composers around you? Well there are multiple levels to this, firstly leading composers in Lithuania like Osvaldas Balakauskas, Bronius Kutavicius, Rytis Mazulis, and Raminta Serksnyte offer one form of inspiration be it their unique ideas on certain things or just their whole oeuvre. My composition tutor Marius Baranauskas, offers another level of inspiration as the more we get to know each other, we respond to each other‘s ideas and suggestions which just allows me to flourish.
The British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania newspaper has charted some facinating individual stories of artistic inspiration in Lithuania. For this edition British Composer and conductor Ben Lunn takes us into his world of artistic exploration in Lithuania: Ben, tell us all about your adventure in Lithuania in terms of applying to study at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. I believe it‘s a rare ocassion? Well it seems I am the first English composer to come study in Lithuania for more than just Erasmus studies. During my studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama I explored and discovered many composers across the former Soviet Bloc, including Horatiu Radulescu, Arvo Part, and Juste Janulyte. What I found with my discoveries where many wonderful composers who weren‘t being given the light of day simply because of the region they are from. So I wanted to attempt to change this. There were many reasons I chose Lithuania over all the other nations, firstly I have worked on multiple projects here and been involved in events like the St. Christopher‘s Festival. Alongsi-
The third level is my fellow students, it is always interesting to see how students develop. It is also curious being an outsider looking in at all the things going on. There are many composers who with a stronger grounding in music could be become quite profound. Then there are others who I find really alluring already, despite still being students. The two that come to mind are Justina Trinkunaite and Karolina Kapustaite, both these composers are really tapping into something magical, and it has been an honour to work with them so far. Does Vilnius/ Lithuania offer non-musical inspiration to you in your writing? There are many things in Lithuania which are inspiring, or at least thought provoking. The sheer fact as a nation it has seen more seismic shifts than Britain has ever saw has meant there are many sources impacting the nation today, and producing many curiosities. So historically I am very curious about it all. As my language skills are improving, I am really discovering Lithuanian poetry. A dear friend of mine gave me a copy of Haiku Vilniui Knyga which is a wonderful collection of Haikus about Vilnius in Lithuanian. I am also slowly working through words of Paulius Sirvys and Sigitas Geda. Lithuania also has the great gem of M.K. Čiurlionis, who is both a remarkable com-
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poser but is also a truly remarkable painter. His output is just glorious to see. This is something I could talk about for days, but I think ultimately as an outsider looking in, it is easier to spot the truly wonderful and unique things in Vilnius and Lithuania. I imagine for Lithuanians in Britain the same is true. Would you describe yourself as a classical music composer? In one word yes. In a longer more wordy way; the term classical composer is flawed and often fails to accept a lot of things. But language can only go so far, and every act of composition is connected to the other classical composers as it continues the art. So it is inescapable. I also tend to find the greatest composers can take this situation and really respond to it with a new kind of panache and ingenuity. Whats your musical “guilty pleasure“? Oh I have no guilty pleasures. I love what I love, and dislike what I dislike. I came to classical music at the age of 18, before that I was listening to bands like Nightwish, Apocolyptica, Slipknot, and System of a Down to name a few. And as a child my parents would be playing bands and musicians like Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Queen, Stiff Little Fingers, Madness, and Pink Floyd and I loved it. That being said it is always very weird when listening to music on shuffle and it jumps from M.K. Čiurlionis to Slipknot. Could you share a bit about your future plans and what did inspire you to join the chamber here? Well my long term future plans are still in the abstract at the minute. But I am currently working towards a thesis discuss who I think are the most significant composers in Lithuania‘s history. After that only time can tell. But in the shorter term, I am wanting my time in Lithuania to be an opportunity to build a cultural discourse between Lithuania and Britain, particularly between Wales and Lithuania; as both nations have a lot in common and could benefit from the comradeship.
BCC paper issue No 53
14 BCC Small Company Member ADDUCO
Adduco is a provider of talent management tools and services. At Adduco, we believe that people are competitive advantage of the companies. The key to the development of a high performance workforce is excellence in hiring, focused training, genuine motivation, enthusiastic engagement, quality succession planning, high retention and superior management and leadership. Our tools are designed to facilitate all human resources management processes – from selection and on-boarding to succession planning and outplacement.
BCC Overseas Member Changing Cultures
Changing cultures are experts in Creativity and Engagement. We bring the skills that have made each of us successful creative artists in our own right, and pool them in innovative ways to bring success and challenge to myriad settings. We work with: • Creative Industries • Arts Organisations • Businesses • Educational Establishments • Community Projects • Conferences and Events and our offers include • Presentations and Talks
BCC Overseas Member Eurobaltika Eurobaltika UK Ltd is a London based company providing full range of financial, accounting and tax advisory services to individuals, small or medium-sized business and international companies. We offer qualified financial accountancy, bookkeeping and business consulting services. We advise on conducting international business, opening branches of international companies in the UK as well as in Baltic States. Our strengths and expertise: • We have 10 years of experience in accounting and business consulting • Our team consists of 6 professionals and 4 ACCA qualified experts • We have experience in a multitude of industries, including: - International trade - Logistics - Transport Sale and Maintenance - Goods Import and Export Worldwide - IT Services - Construction - Property and Real Estate - Medical Services - Education - Fashion Services -Services: Marketing, Sales, Legal and Management Consulting - Charities and non for profit organisations • 90% of our current customers gained through recommendations of previous clients
Presenting New BCC Members “Adduco” in Latin means “to lead”, “to bring”. This name reflects our desire to deliver cutting-edge human resources management tools, methods and services to organizations. We want to create an environment, where individuals are empowered to realize their full potential by maximizing their talents and abilities. We make efforts to advance the quality and value of talent management practices in the region. We seek to partner with our customers to accomplish their goals and to meet the challenge of combining high performance with individual personal fulfillment. Company contact details: Managing Partner: Tomas Ridikas +37068218379 info@adduco.lt www.adduco.lt Užupio str. 30, Vilnius • Facilitation • Training • Networking Frameworks • Mentoring • Community Cohesion • Leadership Development • Communication and Collaborative Enhancement Culture is what happens in the spaces between people, and what we enjoy - what we are best at - is inspiring and motivating our clients to find ways to energise those spaces in order to grow the culture needed to move forward, to change for the better, to think in new ways and achieve real innovation and satisfaction for all, no matter what the setting is. We are passionate, thoughtful and generous people ready to share, explore and develop with you. Communication is at the heart of what changing cultures do, so please get in touch it all starts with a conversation. Company contact details: Web: changingcultures.wordpress.com Director: Nikky Smedley E-mail: nikky@changingcultures.org Twitter: @culturechangers Skype: nikky.smedley LinkedIn: Nikky Smedley Tel: +44 (0) 7956 252552 / +44 (0) 1608 682518
• illuminated and project vision • enhance policy, strategy and brand awareness • engage with clients, customers and stakeholders Our five decades of successful partnership with a global cohort of public- and private-sector organisations is testimony to the company’s professional integrity, accrued expertise and a fundamental commitment to fully understanding and meeting clients’ needs in an overall framework of collaborative media innovation. As a leading media services company, Senate Publishing offers comprehensive communications solutions including; hard copy and digital media, events, and promotional campaigns. Senate Publishing’s closely integrated editorial, creative, production and distribution staff are leaders in their field of hard copy and digital expertise. The company’s specialist team of media and communications advisors and managers are experienced practitioners with long track records of working with government and industry at the highest level. The event team are equally experienced in planning and managing all manner of media occasions’ from large conferences to discreet networking dinners.
The Vilnius International French Lyceum is a school that faces resolutely toward the international community. There are students from Lithuanian, French, Italian, Spanish, Swiss, Russian, Chinese Norwegian, Estonian and Latvian backgrounds. We offer: • Pre-school for children aged from 2 years • Infant-school for children aged for 3 to 6 years • Primary school for children aged from 6 to 11 years • College for children aged from 11 to 15 years • High School for children aged from 15 to 18 years The French education system: French education is a learner-centered system that provides for the personal development of each student. It is designed to encourage creativity and curiosity, while surrounding the child with a disciplined working environment. Students are broken down into groups that
BCC Overseas Member JYSKE BANK Private Banking
• We compete with well known accounting and consulting companies not only on price but also on quality of services • On a number of occasions, we achieved up to 80% tax savings for clients represented in tax enquiries • During 10 years of experience we have built a flexible, innovative and highly motivated team Corporate services: - Book-keeping, payroll, VAT and CIS (construction industry) reporting - R&D (Research and Development) accountancy and reporting - Inventory book-keeping and reporting - Accounts and annual reports -Management and other administrative reporting - Management and tax advisory - HMRC enquiries - Company formation and registration for various tax requirements - Startup consultancy and advisory - Market research - Market entry and trade requirements and regulations advisory - Representations Individual services: - Annual Self Assessment (Tax declarations) - Personal Tax Advisory - HMRC enquiries Contacts: Founder, owner, accountant and CEO of Eurobaltika - Olga Jachimovic E: olga@eurobaltika.co.uk T: +442085224470; +442085559448 Web: eurobaltika.co.uk
BCC Overseas Member Senate Publishing Senate Publishing offers full-spectrum, cost-effective media services built on 50 years of experience and innovation working with governments, major corporates and leading financial institutions. Senate Publishing is a collaborative media partner, offering state-of-the art publishing and communications platforms optimally engineered to:
BCC Small Company Member Vilnius International French Lyceum
All teams share a common commitment to working closely and effectively with clients to maximize the impact of media products and initiatives, while minimising client time and resource requirements. OUR HISTORY The company was founded by Lord David Evans, Chairman of Senate Publishing, and Caroline Minshell, the company’s CEO, who have enjoyed a media business partnership spanning 35 years. Their association began at Centurion Press, a company founded by Lord Evans in 1971, which became one of the largest and most prestigious print management and publishing concerns in Europe, with offices in Amsterdam, Hasselt, Dusseldorf, Birmingham and London. OUR VALUES • Innovation • Honesty • Reliability • Consideration • Insight Company contact information: Office phone number: 020 7723 9825 Address: 5 Wythburn Place, London, W1H 7BU, UK Chairman - Lord David Evans of Watford CEO - Caroline Minshell
We believe that in many ways, Jyske Bank Private Banking is a bank out of the ordinary. Our clients receive a closer personal Private Banking relation than many would expect from an international bank. Our Danish values influence our approach and our advice, as tailored to local conditions. From only GBP 150,000 we offer Private Banking services including: • A personal relationship manager who the client can always contact – no call centres • The relationship mangers have only the client’s best interest at heart –there are no bonus schemes in Jyske Bank • Wealth Management service covering all aspects of the client’s finances
BCC Corporate Member GINSTATA JSC “Ginstata” is a stable, working and growing company, established in 1997. The company has accumulated considerable experience in the construction industry. Ginstata is certified by the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment, and has been given the right to perform general construction work. The company employs highly qualified, certificated employees. Ginstata offers customers superior quality, innovative
roughly correspond to the Lithuanian levels of preschool/ kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school. High-school-level studies focus on preparing students for the French Baccalaureate diplomas. Students earn these diplomas by taking special examinations in the 11th and 12th grades. Students can move easily from one French school to another or to any of the other 450 schools of the network worldwide. Excellence, sharing, influence: The education provided at the Vilnius International French Lyceum is innovative and open to the culture and the language of the host country. It ensures reinforced learning of actively used languages, starting with the native language. It prepares the students for their future as citizens and participants in societies that are open, polyglot and multicultural. Our school has a calling to offer French education and teaching of international standard, promotion of French and the development of multilingualism, a teaching system dedicated to the success of all and a demand for excellence. This excellence is borne out by the students’ achievements: a success rate in the baccalaureate of 100%. Contacts: Vilnius International French Lyceum 13, Šilo gatvė. LT – 10317 Vilnius Tel.: (+370) 5 276 91 32 e-mail: info@efv.lt www.efv.lt Director of Vilnius International French Lyceum Mr Gilles Dervieux
• Competent investment advice in consultation with a large number of specialists • All this from a healthy, solid bank with strong resources. Some examples of our investment solutions include: 1. Invest loans where clients can leverage their investment up to four times and invest in almost any currency, bond, share, mutual fund ETF, etc. (presently from EUR 1.56% and GBP 2.55% per annum). 2. Back-to-back loan, which allows clients to borrow against their present financial investments as deposited in Jyske Bank. The loaned funds can be used for any purpose, for example; buy-to-let properties; investing in start-up companies; adding to investment portfolio in Jyske Bank; or any other purpose 3. Portfolio Management Services via Discretionary Portfolio Management or via Strategic Mutual Funds 4. Multi-currency accounts available in a wide range of currencies (19 possibilities) 5. Wealth Management solutions via a 360 degree holistic approach to the clients current situation and future requirements (relocation to another country, inheritance planning etc.) Key contact people for the Chamber: Sean Stray, Senior Relationship Manager +45 2157 9762, stray@jyskebank.dk Søren Langkjær, Intl. Wealth Management Adviser +45 5117 7441 emailsoeren.langkjaer@jyskebank.com
and cutting-edge ideas. Since it was founded, Ginstata has established itself as a reliable and stable partner. Ginstata’s commitment to excellent quality and flawless implementation is evidenced by the continuing growth of the company’s client base and order volumes. We respect and value our customers, so we are your reliable partner. Company contact details: JSC “Ginstata” Linkmenų str. 13, LT- 09300 Vilnius Tel. +37052778866 www.ginstata.lt
BCC paper issue No 53, 2016
15
List of BCC Members BCC Corporate & Group Members
BCC Sponsor Members
AVIVA Lietuva Life insurance and pension funds www.aviva.lt
Bunnahabhain rep. by Mineraliniai vandenys, UAB Production of single islay malt Scotch Whisky www.bunnahabhain.com
Carlson Wagonlit Travel Corporate travel management www.carlsonwagonlit.lt www.kalevatravel.lt
DNB bankas Banking www.dnb.lt
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals www.gsk.lt
Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square 5 star luxury hotel in Vilnius www.kempinski.com/vilnius
AIG (www.aig.com) – Insurance
PROVIDENT FINANSAI (www.provident.lt) / Personal credits
specializing in Early Childhood Education and Parent
ARIJUS (www.arijus.lt ) / Transport and Logistic services
provider and responsible lender
Education
AVIS Rent a Car & Leasing Company (www.avis.lt) / Car rental
PUBLICUM, UAB (www.publicum.lt) / Public Relations, Public
QUANTUM CAPITAL (www.qcapital.eu ) / Investment
and leasing
Affairs, Management consulting and training
banking & strategic advisory boutique
BALTIC AMERICAN MEDICAL & SURGICAL CLINIC
RADISSON BLU LIETUVA HOTEL (www.radissonblu.
RAIMDA Auditas (www.raudit.lt) / Audit
(www.bak.lt )/ Health Care
com/lietuvahotel-vilnius)/ Hotel, biggest centre located
STAY (www.stay.lt) / Business & leisure concierge
BALTIC SURVEYS (Baltijos Tyrimai, UAB) (www.gallup.com) /
Conference and Event centre, Riverside restaurant, Skybar,
TAURAGĖ
Market research
Lobby bar, fitness centre and sauna
premises for rent in Southwest Lithuania
BANKSERVIS, UAB (www.bankservis.lt) / Bank and office
RADISSON BLU ROYAL ASTORIJA HOTEL
V. Paulius & Associates (www.vpa.lt/) - Real Estate
equipment, security products and solutions
(www.radissonblu.com/hotel-vilnius) / Hotel, French
VILNIUS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (www.vischool.lt) /
BARCLAYS GROUP OPERATIONS LIMITED (http://www.
restaurant „Brasserie de Verres en Vers“, Astorija Bar,
International Baccalaureate World School. Early childhood
lifeintechnology.co.uk/global-locations/vilnius-lithuania/) /
Meetings & Events center, Catering services, Health club with
education, primary and middle school.
one of strategic IT engineering centres providing support for
swimming pool RAMADA Hotel & Suites Vilnius (www.ramadavilnius.lt) /
VINKLERIS
Barclays business activity worldwide.
/
company establishment and competition, as well as family and labor law issues
conference centre, fitness centre, swimming pool and sauna
development company. Investing in, renting and selling
BITĖ LIETUVA, UAB (www.bite.lt) / Telecommunications
premises for office, residential and commercial use
BIURO PASAULIS, UAB (www.biuropasaulis.lt)
SHAKESPEARE Boutique Hotel (www.shakespeare.lt) /
(www.elektromedia.lt)/ /Office supplies, printing
Boutique hotel, Sonnets restaurant, Globe bar, conference
CHANGING CULTURES (changingcultures.wordpress.com)
management and IT solutions
halls
/ Business consultancy in creativity and engagement (NEW!)
BNTP, UAB (www.bntp.lt) / Private equity investment; real
SORAINEN (www.sorainen.com) / Legal services in all fields
EUROBALTIKA (eurobaltika.co.uk) / Financial and accounting
estate development and investment; asset management;
of business law in the three Baltic countries and Belarus
services to individuals, small or medium-sized business and
project management; facilities management.
STOREBRAND BALTIC, UAB (www.storebrand.com ) / Shared
international companies (NEW!)
BRITISH COUNCIL (www.britishcouncil.lt) / the United
service center for Storebrand ASA in Norway and SPP in
JYSKE BANK Private Banking (www.jyskebank.dk) / Private
Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations
Sweden. Financial services within life- and health insurance,
banking (NEW!)
and educational opportunities.
banking and asset management.
NORMA FOSTER LTD / business consultancy on export
CALENBERG Vilnius | STEELCASE (www.calenberg.lt) /
SUE’S INDIAN RAJA (www.suesindianraja.com) / Indian
communications, sales and reputation in international markets
International moving/ relocation and dealership of the office
Restaurant
furniture- STEELCASE
VALIUNAS ELLEX (http://www.valiunasellex.lt/) / A leading
CALLCREDIT OPERATIONS, UAB (www.callcreditgroup.
and internationally highest ranked business law firm in the
com) / Experts in the fields of credit referencing, marketing
Baltics.
services, consumer information, interactive solutions and
VANAGUPĖ HOTEL (www.vanagupe.lt) / 5* Hotel, Modern
SENATE PUBLISHING LTD (www.senatepublishing.co.uk/) / Full-spectrum publishing and communications solutions (NEW!) TODAY TRANSLATIONS (http://www.todaytranslations.com) / translation, interpreting services
consultative analytics.
Conference centre and luxury GOLDEN Spa centre, gourmet
CAMIRA FABRICS Ltd (www.camirafabrics.com) / Contract
cuisine restaurant L’Ambra Rossa
seating & transportation fabric manufacturer
VARUL, Law firm (www.varul.com ) / Legal services in all
COBALT (www.cobalt.legal) - Legal services in all fields of
fields of business law in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus
business law in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus
VILNIUS GRAND RESORT www.vilniusgrandresort.com /
COMFORT HOTEL (www.comforthotel.lt) / Hotel
5 star Hotel, 8.000m2 Conference Centre, Catering Services,
COLEMONT (www.colemont.lt) / Insurance broker, an
Spa, Fitness Centre, Leisure, PGA design Golf course, Over the
authorised Lloyd‘s coverholder
water restaurant, Real Estate
CSC Baltic, UAB (www.csc.com/lt) / IT services and
WESTERN UNION Processing Lithuania UAB
outsourcing
(www.westernunion.com) - Financial Services
DELTA MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, UAB
ZABOLIS PARTNERS (www.zabolis.com) / Finance and Real
(www.deltamanagement.lt )/ Recruitment, Executive Search,
Estate
Temporary Staffing, Employment Services, Personnel Testing
WEST EXPRESS (http://www.westexpress.lt/) / Travel agency,
& Assessment, Greenfield Staffing Support
providing and organising professional business and leisure
DOMINAS & partners (www.dominas.lt) / Law firm
travel services
Small company/NGO Members
Provider of strategic market research on countries, consumers
A HOSTEL ( www.hostelsvilnius.lt) / Accommodation
and industries
Services ADDUCO (www.adduco.lt) / Employee assessment (NEW!)
EVERSHEDS SALADŽIUS (www.evershedssaladzius.lt) / Legal services G4S Lietuva, UAB (www.g4s.lt) / Security Solutions covering cash handling, guarding, electronic security, system maintenance, installation, courier service. GINSTATA (www.ginstata.lt) / Construction and repair work (NEW!) GJENSIDIGE (www.gjensidige.lt) / Insurance GLIMSTEDT (www.glimstedt.lt) / Legal services
AMBER STAFF (www.amberstaff. com) / Temporary
GRANT THORNTON (www.grantthornton.lt ) / Assurance,
Behaviour Change Specialists, are an international people
staffing and employee leasing BALTIC FILM SERVICES (http://bfs.eu.com) / Film and television production BALTIC HOLIDAYS (www.balticholidays.com) / Tour operator in the UK specializing in Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia BCS INTERNATIONAL (www.bcsinternational.net) / The
internal audit, tax advisory, legal advisory, corporate finance,
development organisation, dedicated to the practical use
and accounting services
of emotional intelligence to improve individual and team
HIGHLIFE, UAB / Manufacturing for export timber
performance.
components for the furniture and construction industries. HOLIDAY INN (www.holidayinnvilnius.lt) / Hotel (NEW!) IBIS Styles Vilnius (www.ibis.com)/ Hotel, Restaurant „The Lemon Tree“, Lounge bar, Conference center
DEKONA, Evaldo Darškaus IĮ (www.dekona.lt) /
ISM University of Management and Economics (www.ism.
D & T Global - Developer of real eastate
lt) / Higher education
EUROCONTINENTAL Limited / Textiles
Management Consulting: Operational efficiency, Lean, Six Sigma, process improvement
OVERSEAS MEMBERS Overseas members
BCC Social Members Adrian North Andrius Končius Ben Lunn (NEW!) Bryan David Wallace (NEW!) Chris Butler Christian Ranft Geoffrey Cohn (Life Member) Hugh Miles Thomas OBE, FCA (Life Member) Dr Helene Ryding Jūratė Rusteikaitė – Bakšienė Kevin Badgery Mark Whittle Mervyn Richardson (Life Member) Milda Dargužaitė Michael West Nick Price Ron Sheppard Sigitas Žutautas
BCC Board 2015-2017 Honorary President Claire Lawrence, HM Ambassador to Lithuania Chairman Chris Butler BCC Social Member Field of interest in the Board – Events & Membership Alistair Day-Stirrat Odontika Field of interest in the Board – BCC Paper Asta Grabinskė AVIVA Lietuva Field of interest in the Board – Financial Services Ben Harvey Growing Talent Field of interest in the Board – CSR Iraida Žogaitė Field of interest in the Board – CSR
KLAIPĖDA FREE ECONOMIC ZONE MANAGEMENT
FINREDA, UAB (www.finreda.net) / Corporate services
COMPANY (www.fez.lt) / Management and development of
provider. Legal, financial and business consulting & services
Klaipėda Free Economic Zone
including translations to Lithuanian and foreign companies FRENCH INTERNATIONAL LYCEUM OF VILNIUS (www.efv.lt) / School (NEW!) GENCS VALTERS, Law Firm (www.gencs.eu ) / full service, general practice international business law firm with offices in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius focused on tax, litigation, M&A, corporate, immigration, finance and intellectual property law
Mantautas Paškevičius Strategic Staffing Solutions International Field of interest in the Board - Trade & Investment
GROWING TALENT (www.growingtalent.eu) / Providing
Robert Juodka VARUL Field of interest in the Board - Trade & Investment
KPMG Baltics, UAB (www.kpmg.lt ) /Audit, Tax, and Advisory
LEINONEN, UAB (www.leinonen.eu) / Accounting services LLOYD’S (www.lloyds.com) / Insurance and reinsurance MG Trade (www.mgtrade.lt) - Producers and sellers of high quality windows and doors NEWSEC (www.newsec.com) / Real Estate NORDGAIN (www.nordgain.com) - Financial, tax, asset, transaction, management consulting, finance and accounting services NORTHWAY (www.nmc.lt) / Private medical centre
BCC Accounting Partner
(www.legalconsulting.lt/)
international law firm providing legal advice regarding taxes,
SCHAGE Real Estate (www.schage.lt) / Real estate
services KRASTA AUTO (www.krasta-auto.lt) / automotive (NEW!)
BCC PR Partner
Industrial
Luxury hotel
EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL (www.euromonitor.com ) /
Tark Grunte Sutkiene Full-service business law firm in the Baltic region and Belarus www.tarkgruntesutkiene.com
partners
(www.tip.lt)/
BEST WESTERN HOTEL VILNIUS (Naujasis Vilnius, UAB)
and environmental infrastructure
Strategic Staffing Solutions International Provider of information technology solutions. Recruitment Services www.strategicstaff.com
and
PARK
(www.vilniushotel.eu) / Centrally located Hotel, restaurant,
EKO RIVI, UAB (www.ekorivi.lt) / Consultancy in municipal
PricewaterhouseCoopers Assurance, Actuarial, Advisory, Tax and Legal services www.pwc.com/lt
INDUSTRIAL
NOVOTEL VILNIUS CENTRE (www.accor.com) / Hotel services ODONTIKA (www.odontika.com) / Dental surgery OMNITEL (www.omnitel.lt) / Telecommunications PHOENIX CONTACT (www.phoenixcontact.com) / manufacturer of electric connection and industrial automation technology
BCC SPONSOR MEMBERS
executive coaching, and delivering training for leadership and talent development LONDON INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES (www.londonisl.com) / Business courses, specialized training for both IELTS and TOEFL university admission exams LitCapital Asset Management (www.litcapital.lt) / independent professional private equity fund management MYKOLO ROMERIO UNIVERSITETAS (http://www.mruni.eu) / higher education VILNIUS MONTESSORI PRE-SCHOOL (www.vms.lt) / International Montessori environments based on Dr. Maria Montessori’s humanistic philosophy and approach,
Milda Dargužaitė BCC Social Member Field of interest in the Board - Trade & Investment, Financial services
Toma Vevelstad Amber Staff Field of interest in the Board - Events & Membership Tomas Kontautas Lloyd’s of London Field of interest in the Board - Financial services Vaineta Barevičiūtė DNB Bank Field of interest in the Board - Financial services Viktorija Trimbel Quantum Capital Field of interest in the Board - Trade & Investment