BCC Paper No. 40 by BCCL

Marketing & PR

Spring 2012

issue No. 40 This BCC Paper issue is kindly sponsored by

Mantas Rimkevičius Euromonitor International

Marketing to “Generation Z”

When advertising actually does mislead

Brits in Lithuania. Malcolm Stewart

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“Good design means business” Richard Bissland, Partner, 999 Design As humans we all design to some extent in our lives. Design is not the sole domain of the ‘professional’ designer. Everyone can have a go and usually does at one level or another. However, good design to some people and businesses is a calling and does generate business, profit and benefit in the truest sense. Those companies with the *Midas touch make millions. Computer design, mobile communications, architecture, engineering, fashion design, graphic design and robotic design to allow us to manufacture things faster, all exist to expand corporate and individual bank balances alike. Product designers from companies like Apple and Dyson, Toyota, impact heavily on business, commerce and society, such is their influence and subsequent market penetration. It is a little strange though that at a time when there has never been more people on the planet looking for work, food, clothing, heat and health care that we are still complicit in aiming to design them out of the manufacturing/ service process rather than in. With robots building cars and production and assembly lines becoming more automated by the day, humans can be excess to requirements in many areas of the worlds production and manufacture. What will we do with an extra couple of billion people in 2050 when, as the United Nations estimates, the population reaches nine billion and there’s no work or way of earning

Business in Social media: what is the key to success? Interview with Lukas Mikelaitis, Project Manager at Publicum PR

As we live in the world, where usage of social media in our business is having a greater significance than ever before, the topic was recently discussed at the British Chamber of Commerce monthly Breakfast Technical Briefing with Lukas Mikelaitis from Publicum PR. After the breakfast we asked Lukas about the importance of the social media for business and what are the main issues relating Lithuania in this particular topic? Today’s phenomenon of Social media in business, what are the key factors that business is trying to achieve from Social media? Social media has become a very important part of users’ online life. In various forms social media is integrating more and more in to people lives – people keep in touch with their friends and relatives on social media platforms, read news, express their complaints about brands, sell or buy various

things etc. Social media presence even became a quite important thing in consumers’ purchasing decision making process, especially if we are talking about new, less known brands. According to research carried out by business2community.com, around 35% of consumers want to look at company’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles before buying any product or service. Of those, a massive 70% said they would not deal with a new company if they did not have a social media presence. There can be a huge number of key factors that business is trying to achieve from social media, but the main one is to start conversation with consumers in the environment where they spend lots of time and feel comfortable. What should companies consider before creating their profile in social networks? There are three main steps before creating a profile. First of all, decide what goals your company has to achieve in social media. Then you have to identify your target groups. And only then should you choose social media channels that will help you reach your goals and target audiences the most effectively. As appearance in Social networks immediately opens up a platform for discussions and comments, do you see any risks for the companies and if so, what are they? How should companies deal with negative comments if at all? continued on page 4>

a living? Robotics, once built, are highly efficient, work all day without a lunch break and don’t go on strike for better conditions. Yet. I picked up this train of thought about people while reading John Thackara’s book ‘In the Bubble’. He states, that, as humans, we have designed ourselves into a bit of a mess, things have got out of control with the planet, ‘our only home’ as he calls it, being the main victim of many bad [financially motivated] decisions. But, the good news is, he feels that we can design ourselves back out of the mess if we have the foresight, vision and will to do so. But with so much vested commercial interest,

can it happen before it’s too late. Design today is largely technology based and for many years we have ignored the interests of people for the interests of technology. We also cram our ever more complex smart devices full of irrelevant techy bits the majority of us will rarely use or indeed require thereby wasting highly valuable resources. The book ‘Natural Capitalism’ scarily equates the waste in materials involved in producing a laptop is almost four thousand times its weight on your lap. Think about it. That’s a lot of waste. continued on page 3 >

It is so easy to get it wrong Charles Cormack, Managing Director, Cormack Consultancy Baltic Ltd

I am often asked by businessmen in the Baltic what is the single most important thing they must do to export successfully to the UK. Most believe it is around product and pricing, and of course if these are wrong there is no chance of success anyway, however if you have a good product, and it is competitively priced (both of which you can try to understand without having to leave Lithuania) Then the answer becomes blindingly obvious, you must present your product and company appropriately for a UK audience. Over the past eleven years I must have worked with over 200 Baltic companies helping them with their export, and I think I can count on the fingers of one hand companies that have had their presentation right when I met them. The most basic mistake which is made is the quality of English used on websites and in promotional material. This is such a simple thing to get right I can’t understand how so many people get it

wrong. I guess that the company passes their text to a translation agency, and the resulting text is put into the material without being given to a native English speaker to check. You cannot underestimate how much damage poor English will do to your attempts to market your products or services in the UK. A badly written website will be enough for many British companies to automatically write you off as a „foreign“ business, likely to be difficult to deal with. You have to remember, that unlike the Baltic most of the world comes to the UK to do business, and UK companies are often approached by companies from all around the globe, so any reason you give them to discount you at an early stage is a mistake. The ties between Lithuania and the UK are now so close, that I find it had to believe that any Lithuanian company does not have an employee who is friends with someone from the UK. All you need to do is ask that native English speaker to read through the translation, and „localise“ it. To give an example of what I mean I received a promotional email from Enterprise Lithuania this week, highlighting potential Lithuanian companies looking at the UK market. The quality of the English was shocking, and as a result the email has the potential to be counterproductive. Below is one of entries, and I have also rewritten it to show how simple the changes are to make it effective: continued on page 3 >

BCC paper Spring 2012

2 Members’ Discount Scheme Updates

2012 in Lithuania and Great Britain business. The first two of these things have been done rather well during the last two years or so, the third much less so.

ur eived yo c e r u o y Have bership m e m C C new B 012 yet? 2 r o f d r ca As a member of the British Chamber of Commerce and BCC Membership Card holder you can benefit from the following discounts and special offers: Radisson BLU Astorija hotel – 10% discount for official accommodation rates NEW! Law firm “Vinkleris and partners” – 25% discount for the services, no hourly charge, special priority while providing service. NEW! AVIS rent a car – 25 % discount 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 Preferred cards. Please note that these discounts are only valid when making direct orders through the AVIS Lithuania office. Ąžuolyno klinika, a private hospital – 15% discount for medical consultations Baltic American Medical & Surgical Clinic – 10% discount for all medical consultations Baltic Surveys – 10% discount for market research services in the Baltic states Best Western Hotel Vilnius – 10 % discount from the best available rate for accommodation and 10 % discount from the A la Carte Menu. Biuro Pasaulis – 22% discount for stationery Bunnahabhain – 20 % discount for Bunnahabhain; 10 % discount for other products. Discount is valid only at the Wine Boutique (Gero vyno parduotuve) in Subaciaus St. 2, Vilnius and NEW boutique in Jasinskio st. 16, Vilnius Calenberg – 15 % discount for local and international moving, relocation and transportation services for private and corporate accounts Cormack Consultancy Baltic LT Ltd: 15% discount for market research, export strategy, partner search services in the Baltics and the UK Danske Bank A/S Lithuania branch – Bank will be paying 1 ON VILIBOR-0,2 % or 1 ON LIBOR-0,2 % interest for deposits. Delta Management Solutions – FREE Recruitment; FREE Replacement; ZERO Admin Fee for 1st Month (Waived) for Temporary Staffing Services.

rates for accommodation in the hotel; 10% discount on food and beverages in the hotel restaurant, terrace and bar; 10% discount for SPA procedures Kaunas Airport – you can use Kaunas Airport long term parking without any restrictions and at the end of the month you will receive an invoice with a 20 % discount. No cash, queues, paper tickets or special codes – car plate number is your ticket! Kernaves Bajoryne, Conference and Leisure Centre – Free use of the outdoor tennis court facilities, 10% discount on guest houses for double rooms and separate wooden houses, 10% discount on events and 10% discount on saunas. Law firm JURIDICON – 20% discount for services, no hourly fee. Le Meridien Vilnius Hotel – 20% discount for "Green fee" at the V Golf Club; 10% discount for one time entrance to the Health Club + SPA Oasis; 15% discount for 3, 6 and 12 month Health Club + SPA Oasis memberships; 20% discount for combined Golf + Health Club + Spa "Oasis" Membership. 15% discount in restaurant "Le Paysage"; 10% discount from the best available rates of accommodation.

Chris Butler, PwC, Chairman of the BCC Lithuania As I write, spring has finally arrived in Lithuania and as always, this makes it easier to look at things with a more optimistic attitude; but in truth, Lithuania’s economic situation today is far from depressing and there are indeed good grounds for at least cautious optimism. The early indications seem to be that 2012 will be a quiet year for Lithuania economically, with modest growth of GDP (perhaps 2%) being the most likely scenario. Given the continued problems of high debt and low growth in the Eurozone this will be a very reasonable outcome. In fact it can be argued with some confidence that most of the conditions for a return to stronger growth in Lithuania are already in place; for example, the budget deficit is more or less under control (probably around 3% in 2012), unemployment is stable (albeit still at too high a level), consumer confidence is increasing and there are expectations that property prices will start to rise. Unfortunately the sluggishness of export markets in Western Europe and the continued cautiousness of the banks in the light of western European troubles combine to prevent a more full-blooded recovery. This is likely to be the story of not only 2012 but also of 2013 as well and really, the only thing for Lithuania’s policy makers to do is to “hang in there” – continue to control the budget, aggressively hunt for new investors and take any steps they can to liberalise the environment for

The policy makers will in all likelihood change this year, as in October there will be a general election to the Seimas (the Lithuanian parliament). The results are hard to predict so I will not try to do so, but perhaps what can be said is that any change of government will have relatively little impact on the business climate in the country as a whole given how integrated Lithuania now is into world markets. Perhaps the main area where change might be felt could be in energy policy – the incoming government will have some key political decisions to make about whether to continue the current government’s drive to build a new nuclear power station and to liberalise the gas market. 2012 is also something of a landmark year for the United Kingdom. It is of course the year of the London Olympics and a number of British Chamber events recently have been reflecting that fact. First we raised money at our Burns’ Night for charities supporting sport for the disabled in Lithuania; then at our Annual General Meeting in March we had an interesting presentation from Kevin Read of Bell Pottinger about the Olympics as a marketing opportunity and what features separate a successful Olympics from an unsuccessful one. The Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen, marking her 60 years on the throne, also falls this year. There will be celebrations across the United Kingdom and here in Lithuania we will also celebrate, with a special event to be held on 3rd June at the Vilnius Novotel Centre. So we have much to look forward to during 2012 and I hope that BCC members and friends will continue to be active both within our organization and in the wider business world.

Montessori pre-School of Vilnius – 15% discount to BCC members for their children pre-school tuition! Give your child the right head start!

ODONTIKA, Dental surgery – 20 % discount for services Publicum – 10% for all services and free of charge first consultation! Radisson BLU Hotel Lietuva – 10% discount on food and non-alcoholic drinks in the Riverside restaurant, Lobby Bar and Skybar; Special accommodation offers at Radisson BLU Hotel Lietuva, as well as REZIDOR Group hotels worldwide. Shakespeare Boutique Hotel – 20 % discount for Shakespeare Hotel accommodation; - 15 % discount on all regular priced menu items in Sonnets Restaurant and The Globe Bar.

Fiorentino Restaurant – 15 % discount on prices from Restaurant menu (Dish of the day, catering and events services are excluded from this offer) Hotel Vanagupė (Eskom, UAB) – Hotel Vanagupe & Amber SPA ( UAB Eskom) – 20 % discount of rack

VARUL, Law firm - free of charge first consultation; 10 % discount for all services

When contacting the companies, please indicate that you are a BCC member, provide your company name and BCC Membership Card number. For more detailed information about special offers & discounts please visit our website www.bccl.lt

“Good design means business”

The BCC Paper is a quarterly English language newspaper, with a print run of 4000 copies per issue, covering a wide variety of subjects related to business between the UK and Lithuania. Every edition focuses on a different business sector. It 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. Next publication date: July 2012 BCC paper team: Editor in Chief – Chris Butler Editor – Alistair Day-Stirrat – Alistair.Day-Stirrat@odontika.com Publisher – Geoffrey Cohn – Geoffcohn4747@msn.com Members section and advertising – Sandra Kundrotė, e-mail: Sandra@bccl.lt , tel. +370 5 2690062 Proofreading – Shaun Harvey, Alistair Day-Stirrat

Advert sizes and prices Prices Size

Size mm

BCC Member rate

BCC Non member rate

Back page 1000 cm²

273x366

1250 LTL

363 €

1560 LTL

453 €

Full page right 1000 cm²

273x366

1125 LTL

326 €

1400 LTL

405 €

Full page left 1000 cm²

273x366

1000 LTL

300 €

1250 LTL

363 €

½ page 129 cm²

133x368

700 LTL

210 €

850 LTL

256 €

½ page 129 cm²

273x183

700 LTL

210 €

850 LTL

256 €

1/3 page 326 cm²

273x119

420 LTL

130 €

600 LTL

180 €

1/3 page 326 cm²

133x245

420 LTL

130 €

600 LTL

180 €

Small 129 cm²

273x47

200 LTL

65 €

300 LTL

95 €

Small 129 cm²

133x97

200 LTL

65 €

300 LTL

95 €

Small 129 cm²

63x200

200 LTL

65 €

300 LTL

95 €

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

Recent changes in BCC Lithuania office

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OK, at first reading this may not seem like the most positive start to an article on ‘Good Design in Business’. However, good, considered design can, and does, mean business. Just ask Google, Apple. Microsoft, Blackberry, Skype, FaceBook, Toyota, Honda, etc. Hey, back a bit… is that a Baltic brand in among those global high tech institutions? Yep, there it is… Skype. Whilst the two inventors may have been Danish and Swedish the Skype technology was developed and refined in Estonia, in the Baltic. A superb achievement but how many other Baltic brands fall into the category of being recognised instantly? The west in general has a skewed perception of the Baltic States. The quality of the Baltic IT infrastructure for example is the envy of the UK. I also enjoy telling people Bob Dylan’s maternal grandparents were Jewish Lithuanians who emigrated in 1902 and in 1873 a Latvian tailor came up with the idea of putting rivets into Levi Jeans to make the pockets stronger. Innovative or what? On May 20, 1873, they received US patent No 139/121. This date in May is now considered the official birthday of "blue jeans." The Baltic made a big impact on American/ western culture. On my trips to the Baltic States I have found the people to be inventive, creative, convivial and hardworking. There seems to be a disconnect when it comes to truly investing in their brands to push them over the finishing line, to establish values and provenance and become internationally respected and desired products. Is this a link to the days under Soviet control when sales drives went east not west? Is it a capital investment thing? Is lack of foresight holding back the development of great products and ideas? Create desire for a product, even under [particularly under] the mainstream radar, and you have a success on your hands. Does the Baltic lack the drive, innovation and energy of western marketing techniques to push forward their products and Intellectual Property to a pan European or global level?

Motieka & Audzevičius, Law firm – free of charge first consultation for BCC members

AB Ūkio Bankas – special fees for BCC corporate members holding account with the bank. Private members can apply for a set of bank cards using this special offer: a MasterCard Standard including insurance plus a special debit card (Maestro/VISA Electron or Maestro Zalgiris) and a virtual MasterCard card for safe internet purchases - all for a price of one card and no need to pay service charges during the first year.

Finreda – 10 % for corporate, accounting, audit organisation, legal, financial, tax and business consulting, and translation services

Marketing & PR

One of my first trips to the Baltic took me to a textiles factory. Its people were producing quality garments sold in the UK high street and management had plans to produce their own label. But as far as I could ascertain, their designers had not been out of the country for a long time, they didn’t know what was parading down the catwalks of Paris or selling in New York and London this year, let alone what might be happening next year. Fashion is about being quick off the mark. On their previous excursion to the UK they did not present themselves to the marketplace as a bold, contemporary fashion business, looking to expand, should. I concluded, they had little chance of success with an ‘own-label’ without investment in their personnel’s abilities, energy and creativity. I wondered why they didn’t design a range of traditional Baltic inspired clothing and create something unique with a Baltic heritage. I asked a Scottish fashion design team to research the Baltic dress heritage and they came back enthused with what they found and what felt they could achieve. The will, vision and investment to take it forward was not there. Pity. So how does embracing and investing in design pay dividends? At one level it can help your cities become more attractive as destinations for tourism and more enjoyable for locals. It can make towns and cities more viable as business locations, it can improve products and services, increase manufacture and sales, attract inward investment. From a marketing communications perspective it will help you stand out from the crowd, build product awareness, create demand and exact a premium price for the product. The area of design 999 Design works in is integrated campaign communications. Online, Off line, in-store, experiential, print, packaging and motion. New challenges present themselves everyday as

In February, 2012 Toma Vevelstad, Membership Services Manager has left the chamber after 3,5 years. The chamber expresses high appreciation for her professional work, efforts and being so much devoted for this organisation during all those years. We wish Toma all the best in her future career and personal life.

brands seek to find unique methods of engaging with customers. In brand terms you need a level consistency to tell your brand story, show what you stand for, to differentiate your brand from the competition, to occasionally surprise and delight your customers. In today’s online and offline environments, weaving together the virtual and the physical aspects of a brand for consistent tone and presence is essential. To support this view, a report by retail specialists Fitch shows Starbucks has enjoyed a 40% rise in brand value in the last few years, despite the economic downturn, demonstrating the success of the brand revitalization initiatives implemented two years ago by Howard Shultz when he returned as CEO. He closed underperforming locations and improved the coffee house experience while extending the brand into instant coffee and preparing it for aggressive international and multi-channel growth in grocery as well as fast food. Tesco, on the other hand, the UK biggest and most successful retailer has dropped back 15% in global brand terms culminating in poor Christmas 2011 trading figures which has instigated an agency review of its huge multi-million GPB communications account. On a global level Amazon has overtaken Walmart to become the No1 retail brand with a 37% rise in brand value to $37.6 billion. Online is critical and growing. New brands are also on the upward curve. The Chinese search engine Baidu increased 141 percent in brand value to $22.6 billion, ranking it No. 29 in the global Top 100, up from No. 75 a year ago. Toyota rebounded to the No. 1 rank in cars. Its performance demonstrated the power of a strong brand to recover from the most fundamental challenges to product efficacy and reputation after faulty products generated worldwide negative press. Even the way we reach and engage with customers is becoming more complex and a bit spooky. A bus-stop billboard, set up by Plan UK, a notfor-profit organisation that supports children in developing world developed a new ‘Because I’m a Girl’ campaign to raise money to educate girls living in the world’s poorest countries. The interactive advertisement uses a high-definition camera to scan pedestrians before showing a gender specific advertisement. The scanner measures the distance between the viewer’s eyes, the width of the nose, the length of the jaw line and shape of cheekbones to determine their gender. Only females should be able to view the full 40 seconds video. Naomi Williams, Plan UK’s Campaigns Manager says the response has been positive, and has doubled the number of Twitter followers in a few days. My own business, 999 Design, was commissioned to reach out to the thousands of customers of the Glasgow Housing Association, Europe’s largest social landlord, to inform them of the large scale improvements and future planning that was being undertaken by the organisation to improve their lifestyle. To engage with this notoriously hard-toreach audience we had to create something new and attention grabbing. Our response was the Big Red Truck which carried a magic table linked to motion sensors and motion graphics to give the residents a truly interactive experience. As they waved their hands over pictures and facts the information changed and updated. The subsequent research proved the engagement to be a huge success changing negative perceptions to positive and creating fresh dialogue. It also won 999 three Innovation awards. Good design does mean business, Average, bland and uninspiring are not options in the marketplace today. * Midas is the name of one of the most famous members of the royal house of Phrygia King Midas, who is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything into gold. This came to be called the Golden touch or the Midas touch.

In March 2012, the BCC office welcomed a new Membership Services Manager and new member of staff Jurga Prakapaite. Jurga has a degree in information and communication, had experience with insurance products, in law offices and as an artist. Few years ago, Jurga also spent 8 months as chamber volunteer, helping with the chamber Friday e-Newsletter and additional tasks at the office. Jurga has already integrated into the chamber, organised a number of Breakfast Briefings, has met the majority of our members and is looking forwards to meet you all! Jurga will be responsible for constant communication with chamber members and will be looking after majority of chamber membership services.

It is so easy to get it wrong < continued from page 1

The Enterprise Lithuania version We would like to offer printing services. Our company helps to publishing offices, publicity compaigns and other companies to find out new printing possibilities, to maintain high quality of the production and at the same time to save time, money and preserve peace of mind. Already more The modified version Printing Services We offer a range of printing services to marketing agencies, PR agencies and business. We use the most up-to-date technology and are able to offer high speed and quality production at low cost. To find out more about how we could help your business please contact us The second issue is that of packaging, again we see this all the time, especially from companies in the Lithuanian food sector. The product is nearly always good, and the price competitive, but we always seem to hit a hurdle around packaging. There seems to be a belief that a British retailer is going to

be happy to stock product in Lithuanian packaging, with stickers on them to make sure they comply with UK legislation. Well I can tell you they are not, some of the „Eastern European“deli’s may be, but no UK retailer selling to UK customers will be. Unless you are prepared to invest in getting you packaging correct for the UK market before you try and sell it there then please do not waste your time. No supermarket buyer will even consider sitting down for a conversation unless he or she can see exactly what the product you are going to sell him will look like on shelf. Finally remember design is a cultural issue, and what seems attractive in Lithuania may not seem so to a UK consumer. Most Baltic clients want to use Baltic designers to prepare marketing material for the UK market, and I understand that from a budgetary point of view this is the sensible thing to do. But ask yourself, who is more likely to be able to develop relevant design and marketing material for the UK market, a UK or Lithuanian agency? The UK is a potentially massive export market for Lithuanian business, and there are already some Baltic companies doing very well there, however it is tough to enter, and it takes time. If you want to be successful then you need to put yourself in the best position possible, and following the advice above will give you a start.

BCC paper Spring 2012

Marketing & PR

MARKETING TO “GENERATION Z” By Euromonitor International In marketing terms, today’s tweens and teens are known as “Generation Z” (children born between 1991 and 2000s). In recent years, marketers have identified “Generation Z” as a crucial consumer segment, as they are highly brand-conscious and receptive to advertising. However, a careful approach needs to be taken in marketing to this group, who are sceptical of traditional advertising methods and wary of hard sell techniques, but at the same time tend to embrace all forms of new technology and are open to innovative marketing techniques.

clips, images, interactive Flash games, interesting stories or special offers are launched on the Internet in the hope that consumers will feel compelled to pass them on to like-minded friends and contacts, making them self-replicating. Piggybacking on-line communications, these advertisements thereby gain credibility from peerto-peer endorsement. The best examples of these advertisements take on an almost cult status, becoming the focus of real world discussion and re-telling – meaning more kudos and publicity for the relevant brand/product/service.

Studies have found that tweens and teenagers resent intrusive advertising on billboards, TV and the Internet, but are happy to watch advertisements that are relevant and funny. For these reasons, most teenagers enjoy viral marketing (known as word-of-mouth or WOM), which often creates humorous and interesting content.

By exploiting the power of peer-to-peer advertising, brands are able to raise awareness and achieve valuable dwell-time through attracting the full attention of their audience for minutes rather than seconds. Larger companies can use a viral marketing platform very cheaply in conjunction with traditional marketing, while smaller companies can use it as a standalone platform to market products without many of the associated costs.

The success of viral marketing is often based upon the “cool factor”. Subtly branded video

Global Population By Age (%) 2011 6%

19%

17%

Children aged 0-10 generation Z (11-22) generation Y (23-33) generation X (34-48) 21%

20%

Baby Boomers (49-67) Swing generation (68+)

17%

*Source: Euromonitor International

Business in Social media: what is the key to success?

Brits in Lithuania

Please tell us more about your working life here, you teach English to lawyers, right? This is quite an interesting niche service you are providing.

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Before entering social media, companies should evaluate what is general public opinion about them and if people are satisfied with their products or services. If a company feels that there are more unsatisfied clients than satisfied, it should start by solving their problems in the offline world and only then start communicating with its clients online. Otherwise negative comments will start piling up in company’s profile and will not do any good for the brand. Of course, it is probably impossible to avoid negative comments once you are in the social media. The best thing you can do, when negative comments appear, is to publicly apologize, promise you will do your best to solve their problems and ask them to contact you in private for further details. This way you will show attention to that particular customer’s needs and prove to other followers that you are willing solve their problems. Never ignore negative comments, always deal with them as soon as possible. What is the situation in Lithuania concerning business activities in social media? What are the most popular networks for business in this country and how does it differ from say the UK? The main difference between Lithuanian and UK media landscape is number of platforms being used. In Lithuania we have only several, which can be called popular – Facebook, Youtube and Wikipedia. Meanwhile in UK you should add Twitter, Foursquare, Flickr and others to the list of platforms that have tangible amounts of users worth interacting with. Bigger variety of social platforms being used creates more possibilities for reaching different audiences and launching more effective cross-platform campaigns. Facebook has over 1 million registered users from Lithuania. So it is natural that Lithuanian business is focusing on this channel and only very few invest their money and effort in communicating in channels like Foursquare or Twitter that are used only by several hundreds or thousands of enthusiasts. Businesses simply do not see a clear way of ‘who’ and ‘how’ will they reach if they start a campaign in niche social platforms. On the other hand if business started working and investing in more social media platforms, I am pretty sure it would attract more users.

Well, actually, my remit is a lot broader than lawyers. I first started teaching general English when I arrived in Vilnius but I soon realized that the field was a little oversubscribed and there was a lot of competition, so I decided to focus on certain business sectors. As a native speaker with a particular skill set it made more sense to provide a service for those who needed to have a very high standard of English within their profession, and to offer a service that was more like language consultancy than general teaching. To this end, we (London international School of Languages) began offering services for lawyers and are now moving into other niche markets, such as advertising and banking. Most professionals have neither the time nor the need to attend general courses, wherein all the information comes from a set textbook and has no direct relevance to their job. Working more as a consultant, I can identify and then offer materials and advice that are more related and pertinent to each client’s profession.

based on conversation between people or between people and brands. Therefore you have to constantly engage with your followers, ask their opinion and, of course, make some conclusions and insights based on the answers and opinions you receive from followers and fans. If we were talking about Facebook, it would be a huge mistake to start talking in a corporate manner. Every social network has its own style. For example, most people in Facebook are looking at friendly conversations and easy to consume content. People who are willing to discuss on more serious topics or read news related to work, are more likely to appreciate it on LinkedIn rather than on Facebook. How to measure the tangible benefits that social networks can bring to business? It depends on what you are trying to achieve – create a customer service channel, increase traffic to your website, raise awareness about the event you are organizing etc. Every goal has different ways of measuring if it was reached or not. But if we are talking about Facebook, the key factor is the percentage of your fans that are engaging with your brand – likes, comments, shares. The more people are involved with your brand the more actively they are spreading news about your brand to their friends and family. And Nielsen research has showed that recommendation from friends and family is the most trusted form of advertising. Do you have any success stories to tell, which would showcase the achievements of business in Lithuania via active communication in social networks?

What are the crucial mistakes that business is constantly making in social networks?

An example of very simple but effective communication in Facebook was carried out by a pet store Kika. Well known writer, journalist and TV host Andrius Užkalnis bought nail clips for his guinea pig in Kika’s store. Nail clips’ brand was “In Style”, so A. Užkalnis joked in his Facebook profile (which has nearly 4.500 subscribers), that he never thought owning a guinea pig was such a glamorous thing. Kika reacted quickly and posted that they are giving him a present in order to keep A. Užkalnis pet as glamorous as possible –„In Style” hair brush. A. Užkalnis was pleasantly surprised and reposted Kika’s reply, which received a very positive feedback from A. Užkalnis subscribers. With a present worth probably around 20 Litas, Kika positioned themselves as a fun, communicative brand that likes to engage with their followers.

The worst thing business can do in social network is start a one-way communication without engaging with its target audiences. Social media concept is

Prepared by Sandra Kundrote, Executive Director of BCC Lithuania

What is your experience of teaching Legal English in Lithuania and are lawyers in Lithuania good learners?

An interview with Malcolm Stewart, a Legal & Marketing English specialist who has been settled in Lithuania since 2006, and who sees some advantages in living here. Malcolm, as you are a pretty new British face to our chamber, the first question is the usual one – what brought you to Lithuania? I have a very simple answer to that question: the young lady I met while in London who is now my wife. I was giving a poetry performance at a live event and she was part of the audience. A phone number later and some adventures through London and Scotland and here I am.

What was your background back in the UK? A rather varied one actually. I originally moved to London as part of a PHD on Renaissance Art, and while researching at the Warburg Institute in Bloomsbury, I ran out of funding and had to find a job. After stints in sales and teaching, I ended up running a small second hand and Antiquarian Bookshop in South London. And that was what I did until I met my wife.

Generally speaking, all of the students that I have had the pleasure to teach thus far have had a very high to proficient level of English. What is lacking, however, is an approach to legal English that privileges communication over complexity. What I mean by this is that there is a tendency within all the lawyers I have taught to be over elaborate, to write long, grammatically complex sentence in which the meaning is not explicitly clear. English and American law likes to use very arcane and complicated language and it is, therefore, only natural that non-native lawyers should wish to imitate this style. This is a difficult, if not impossible task, so I have to teach my clients instead to be clearer and more precise. There are, of course, a lot of other issues, such as the use of A and THE, but there’s not enough space to cover that here.

As regards the question of whether Lithuanian lawyers are good learners, the answer would have to be a resounding yes! What do you like most about Lithuania and what do you hate most about Lithuania? What I like most: the people, the food, the nature What I like least: some elements of political and business life, the winter! What does your leisure time look like? Do you travel at all in Lithuania and if so what are your favorite places? My leisure time is spent mainly with a book or in the swimming pool. I have a number of favourite places in Lithuania: I love Nida, of course. I am very fond of the countryside around Ignalina, in particular Palūšė (in whose church I was married), and Meironys, which is to me the most wonderful and magical place in the whole country! What does your usual weekend look like here? Well, I have one favored night spot on Traku Str. called Marsas, which is the closest that Vilnius comes to a London bar, and that would be my first stop if I was going out on a Friday evening. If I am in the city at weekends, my wife and I usually wander around the Old Town and saunter through the park, especially during the summer. Of course, as mentioned above, I am a big fan of the Lithuanian countryside and during summer I spend a lot of time in my family’s village, walking the family dog in the forest, or swimming in the lake (something you could never do in my native Scotland without catching a cold!) What do you miss the most about your home country? Fish and Chip shops Prepared by Sandra Kundrote, Executive Director of the BCC Lithuania

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BCC paper Spring 2012

My experience from business trip to India Renata Beržanskienė, Partner at SORAINEN

Some months ago I attended a study trip to India organised by the Baltic Management Institute as part of an optional module for EMBA studies organized together with Jindal Global Business School. We met more than 40 people who live in Delhi, such as lawyers, professors, doctors, businessmen, executives, managers, students, and tourist guides. They introduced us to Indian culture, business culture and legislation as well as other aspects of business management in India. It is worth visiting Delhi, as the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India, a city with 15 million inhabitants, where the population is increasing by 15 % each year and the infrastructure is unable to develop at the same speed. Delhi is a dynamic city where the culture is equally strongly manifested in business and daily life. In addition, its unique business regulation and legal system seemed to me so exciting that I have decided to share this with you. Of many cities I have visited, Delhi is the most complex in all these aspects. The business culture and environment in India is not attractive. The shadow economy comprises over 50 % of the economy. Bureaucracy along with corruption are overwhelming in business where you need to have contacts for everything. That (in addition to the caste system) makes business conditions very difficult for the locals, not to mention for foreign business people who encounter a certain restriction on buying apartments, land, shares in specific industries, just to mention a few. One foreign shareholder is allowed to participate in establishing a company, but it depends on the sector – wholesale, agricultural, telecommunications, aviation, petroleum and other strategic businesses should have an appropriate number of local founders. Even more restricted is acquisition of listed companies – in this case a foreigner cannot hold more than 10 % of shares. Foreign companies are considered desirable employers. A huge advantage is to work for international companies since they are considered to generate more added value, while salaries in these companies are 20 % higher. Land acquisition is also restricted – foreigners (natural persons) are not allowed to purchase agricultural land at all. However, if a foreigner

manages to acquire real estate in India, later the new owner is often unpleasantly surprised by the fact that it is not the landlord but the tenant who is protected. Despite all this, the economic stability of the country is perhaps the greatest risk factor for business in India. Although the world has recently seen 10 % growth of the economy in this country two years in a row, inflation runs to 20 % every year. Business regulation in India also differs greatly from what we have there in Lithuania. First of all, the salary of directors of listed companies is limited to 11 per cent of net company profit. However, the majority of listed companies are banks, so this restriction is not relevant to the majority of companies operating in India. Many differences also lie beneath legal company management structure. The laws there require a company to have 1/3 or 1/2 of independent directors. However, according to Indian lawyer Mr. Naveen Goel, who specialises in corporate governance and has worked in this area for 20 years, in practice directors are usually (90%) friends and so are not actually independent. The traditions of forming boards of directors and the principles of their work are that directors are personally liable for breaking mandatory rules stated in laws. It is not obligatory for the CEO to be a member of the board in India. The chair of the board has only a procedural role: to preside over meetings. There is no practice or general rule to have a lawyer as a member of the board and only a few companies apply this practice. In view of issues of current interest and the bankruptcy practice of legal entities, I was curious to learn how that mechanism functioned in India. I was surprised to find out that a creditor can file for bankruptcy if a debt is as little as USD 2,000. The most interesting to me as a practicing dispute resolution lawyer was the judicial system in Delhi. I was told by a local litigation lawyer, that it is “normal” for court proceedings to take more than 10 years in India. That is why the majority of international disputes are resolved in London or Singapore or by arbitration, while out-of-court settlements are very popular. The long court procedures are first of all caused by the enormous workload of judges – we were told that each judge in Delhi has 100 cases per day. Judges are not specialised in a particular sphere in Delhi and thus hear both criminal and civil cases, so that the quality of judgments is very poor. Lawyers usually take USD 10,000 – 20,000 for a case. A good lawyer charges USD 1,000 an hour. All in all there are more than 30,000 practising lawyers in Delhi. This is a very short overview. My trip to India was not restricted only to this spectacular city, and I am convinced that to regard India as a uniform country is a big mistake. Each state is unique, where the language changes every ten kilometres and customs change every hundred kilometres. However if you consider a region to visit, I suggest not missing the opportunity to experience the dynamics and the cultural uniqueness of Delhi society and business. But this is something to experience for oneself as every experience is highly subjective.

Vilnius International Airport on Summer Season Breaks Records Vilnius International Airport now offers flights to 31 cities and 36 airports in Europe and Russia for the summer season. 40 direct regular flights shall be operated from Vilnius by 21 airlines offering flights during the summer season. Ryanair airline opened new routes to Paris and German resort Baden-Baden. As of now flights to these cities shall be operated three times per week. Expanding its route network from Vilnius, air transport company Wizz Air shall bring a second aircraft Airbus A320 to its flight base in Vilnius and shall be offering flights to five new destinations as of May 2012. Regular flights shall connect Vilnius and Bergen, as well as South Norwegian city Stavanger and Oslo Sandefjord airport, also introduces two destinations to Paris and Liverpool twice a week. More frequent flights are planned for several currently operating routes – London, Eindhoven, Doncaster and Cork. Flights between the second largest Polish city Krakow and Vilnius shall be operated on the 7th June,

Marketing & PR

twice a week on Thursday and Sunday. Until recently there has been no direct connection between Vilnius and Krakow. Israel airline Sun d’Or announced that, in cooperation with Israel’s national airlines El Al, it is to launch new direct flights between Tel Aviv and Vilnius Airport as of 20 June this year. Airline Iceland Express shall offer direct flights on Wednesdays for the summer season from 26 June through 29 August from Vilnius to the capital of Iceland Reykjavik. Communication with Russia has increased significantly. Aeroflot will be operating daily flights to Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Ak Bars Aero airline will be operating flights to Saint Petersburg on Mondays and Thursdays, and Aerosvit Airlines shall expand its flight schedule to Kiev from 2 to 3 flights per day. Responding to growing demand of business and tourism sectors Vilnius International Airport shall continue expanding its flight geography.

When Advertising Actually Misleads Versatile Nature of Advertising Not only did the technological progress of the 21st century enable vast opportunities for advertising, making it flamboyant, but also brought increasing volumes of trade, industry and consumption, which in its own turn often makes business undertakings embellish the reality in order not to lose in the fight for survival on a certain market. Advertising is one of the elements of marketing aimed at influencing potential consumers to increase the demand for the goods or services advertised. Globally, companies spend billions on financing advertising campaigns of their products every year. Advertising is the information, the freedom of dissemination, whereof is secured by the Constitutions of almost all democratic countries. Not only does this freedom include the right to disseminate but also the right to receive commercial information. Advertising reduces costs of product search for consumers and contributes to their knowledge about the processes taking place on the market. In this sense, advertising plays an educational role for the society. It, inter alia, creates business, forming new needs of people, building favourable stereotypes or breaking them. No secret that advertising is sometimes aimed at provoking a specific segment of the population so that consumers of the group would remember a certain trade mark or a product and desirably find themselves in the store asking for the one. Business can also use advertising for boasting about its achievements to consumers, competitors or the public at large. Therefore, advertising can also imply some mocking at competitors which lag behind. In such context advertising can be aggressive, discredit the competitor or even offend a certain community or its social group. All these reasons and causes make it sufficiently clear why the legal regulation of advertising is a complex legal institute and why the control mechanism of advertising cannot do without several fundamental objectives, primarily, focused on the decency and fairness of advertising and on the prohibition of misleading advertising. These objectives require different legal instruments. It is hard to disagree that observance of moral imperatives in dissemination of commercial information would hardly be achieved by bans on misleading advertising. And to the contrary, the control mechanisms of misleading advertising would hardly be effective enough fighting the discrediting of moral societal values and other statements or actions in commercial communication contrary to public order. Legal Criteria of Assessment The main legal act regulating advertising in Lithuania is the Law on Advertising which first version was adopted on 18 July 2000. The purpose of the Law on Advertising is to improve consumer information concerning goods and services, protect consumer interests, protect freedom of honest competition and create conditions for the development of advertising activity. The law on Advertising establishes that advertising must be decent, accurate and clearly recognisable. Article 4 of the Law on Advertising provides grounds based on which the advertising must be banned. Among others it is forbidden to disseminate advertising

Dr. Mantas Rimkevičius Advocate at Professional Law Partnership „Baltic Legal Solutions Lithuania“ Lecturer of Vilnius University Law Faculty

consumer in a particular case (group) and apply it when judging if statements presented in the ad could potentially have impaired the economic behaviour of consumers. A decision regarding misleading effect of a particular advertisement must always be based upon the consideration of an individual case and not forgetting the essence of the commercial advertising which was revealed above. Consumers must not be suspicious, but reasonable and never ignorant

if it violates public and moral principles. Article 5 of the Law on Advertising establishes that the use of misleading advertising must be banned and stipulates three main criteria which should be applied while judging on possible misleading effect of advertising, i.e. the accuracy, the comprehensiveness and the presentation criteria. The accuracy criterion requires a provider of advertising to possess evidence which could substantiate accuracy of information presented in the advertising at the time of its usage. The comprehensiveness criterion lies down traders’ obligation not to omit information which is material to the consumers of advertising. When judging on comprehensiveness of a particular advertisement, account must be paid to all information presented. Therefore, cases where additional and unimportant information is presented instead of the one which is material for the consumers should not be tolerated. Information presented in an advertisement can be regarded as insufficiently comprehensible if the material information that an average consumer needs to take an informed transactional decision, is not disclosed, is hidden or provided in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner. The presentation criterion states that advertising can be declared misleading if the manner or form of advertising, even if the information presented in the ad is accurate and/or comprehensible,

taking into account the overall impression could still mislead the consumer of advertising. All three misleading advertising criteria are autonomous and advertising can be regarded as misleading if it does not comply with at least one of them. However, the fact that the statement in an advertisement is incompliant with any of the misleading advertising criteria is not sufficient to declare advertising as misleading. In all misleading advertising cases the materiality condition must be proved. Therefore, the second step after evaluation of a particular advertisement with regard to the misleading advertising criteria is the analysis if the inaccurate or incomprehensible information and/or its presentation could have impaired the economic behaviour of the consumer of advertising, i.e. might have caused the average consumer to take such a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise. When judging on the advertising possibility to impair the economic behaviour of the consumers, attention is paid to the behaviour which can be expected from an average consumer. An exception is applied to advertisements aimed at the specific groups of consumers. Thus, both the Competition Council which hears cases of misleading advertising in a compulsory pre-trial proceedings and the Lithuanian administrative courts (if the decision of the Competition Council is appealed) must define the standard of an average

It can be argued that striking the right balance between different interests which often conflict each other is one of the most relevant issues in the development of the legal regulation of advertising and later on in the interpretation and application of these provisions. It is pretty obvious that business interest to promote sales, become more attractive and obtain a larger share on the market can hardly do without any embellishment of the reality. The latter often balances on the margin between the possibility to mislead consumers and breach the imperative of fair competition on the one hand and execution of the freedom of expression and right to disseminate colourful advertising which should not be understood in the literal sense, on the other. Therefore, when assessing the advertising in terms of its misleading effects, the Competition Council and the Lithuanian administrative courts are ought to take into account not only the versatile nature of advertising but also consider, on a case by case basis, the nature, purpose of the information communicated through advertising, the addressee of advertising and, in particular, consider whose interests are or can be infringed. Like identification of the average consumer is not a statistical survey, the assessment of misleading advertising cannot be too far from reality as well. Thus, anonymous consumer complaints about advertisements misleading everybody in all regards should not be tolerated. Groundless complaints about consumer rights infringement, in particular, abuse of consumers’ rights is unfair practice in terms of competition that can be detrimental to the competition in the Lithuanian and the EU internal market, especially given that all member states must be compatible with the principle of the free movement of goods and services in the internal market. Presentation of inaccurate or incomprehensible information per se should not be considered misleading advertising, except when commercial practices have the elements for being blacklisted. A too lenient attitude to the consumer's ability to question his/her emotions under the influence of commercial practices may be harmful to the society. A requirement for a higher level prudence and care from the consumer should encourage consumers to be interested in the processes taking place on the market and, accordingly, promote education of consumer community. A requirement for advertising to present all information about the product offered with absolute accuracy can undermine the colourful nature of advertising, lead to unreasonably high business expenses and impairment of consumers' ability to assess the information they are given. Therefore, advertising should not bear prejudice that it always does mislead.

BCC paper Spring 2012

8 Chronicle of BCC Events

Chronicle of BCC Events

Burns Night Celebrated in Vilnius for the 13th Successive year

This year Guests at Burns Night were entertained by “The Midgies” ceilidh band making their debut in Lithuania. A day before, the first ever open public ceilidh dancing lesson was held at

As this year, there were no Elections to the Board, the BCC members were presented with Annual Activities and Financial Reports for 2011. After presentations the Chairman, Executive and Board members answered to questions from the BCC members. The discussion was followed by approval of the Annual reports for 2011. Traditionally, the AGM was followed by a Keynote Speaker and Business Reception. This year the chamber was pleased to welcome Kevin Read, Managing Director at Bell Pottinger Business & Brand (UK), who made a presentation “The Olympic effect: A critical review of the impact on country branding of bidding for, and hosting, the games” and answered to questions from the audience. After the keynote speech the BCC members and guests were invited to continue conversation near glass of wine and snacks kindly served by Radisson Blu Astorija hotel restaurant, and taste the Scotch whisky Bunnahabhain.

On Saturday, January 21st, the British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania held its 13th Annual, Traditional Burns Night, Charity Event to celebrate the birthday of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) and to raise funds for disabled and vision impaired children & youth sport clubs in Lithuania „Vilnis“, „ Šarūnas“ and „MES“. Those 3 organisations have been chosen in association with 2012, the year of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. In keeping with tradition, the 13th annual Burns Night was held in Vilnius City Hall, located in the very heart of the magnificent old town. The event was attended by 240 guests from different countries including, naturally, Scotland, England and Lithuania. The charity raffle this year raised 20,000 litas (3.463 GBP), an absolutely record amount to be shared in equal parts by charity organizations as mentioned above.

On March 21st, the British Chamber of Commerce held its 13th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Radisson Blu Astorija Hotel.

Keynote Speaker Kevin Read, Managing Director at Bell Pottinger Business & Brand (UK)

On March 28th, The British Chamber of Commerce had the pleasure of inviting members to the monthly Breakfast Technical Briefing in Shakespeare Hotel Vilnius. The topic on “Media Trends: Innovations in Magazine Media” was presented by Saulius Garbaravicius, Board Member of Scaent Baltic. Mr. Garbaravicius provided an overview of global media landscape, and explained the new tendencies that media world is currently facing. The presentation was well received by all in attendance and there was considerable amount of audience interaction. As usually, BCC members and friends were enjoying networking and English breakfast, prepared by the Sonnets restaurant.

Saulius Garbaravicius, Scaent Baltic making presentation on Media Trends

Tim Mahon, Deloitte, Member of the BCC Board presenting Annual Financial Report

The chamber would like to express its gratitude to the sponsors listed below, for their input into the AGM Business Reception. Participants of the Breakfast Technical Briefing

Panorama shopping centre and was met with great enthusiasm by local people and some of Burns Night guests. Burns Night itself was celebrated in a true Scottish manner and had most of the essentials necessary for a successful event. The haggis was ceremonially piped in by Iain MacPhee accompanied by Gordon Ross and John MacGregor. “Address to a Haggis” was recited by Gordon Ross, the “Toast to the Lassies” and “Reply from the Lassies” were delivered also by Gordon Ross and Penny Miller. After Burns Supper, the guests were invited to enjoy ceilidh dancing led by “The Midgies”, which was a great success.

From left to right: Lukas Mikelaitis, Publicum PR, Milda Jociute, Scaent Baltic and Sandra Kundrote, BCC Lithuania

Sergejus Fedotovas, UBIG, Member of the BCC Board presenting Annual Membership report

Sandra Kundrote, BCC, taking notes at the AGM From left to right BCC members: Rasa Barisiene, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Jurate Rusteikaitė Bakšienė and Zigmantas Šoblickas, Banskervis

On 28 February, Chris Butler, the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania handed over Burns Night’12 charity funds to three sports clubs for disabled and visually impaired children and young people from Vilnius and Kaunas. The official hand – over ceremony was a part of the exclusive event to mark 150 days to the London Olympics and 183 days to the London Paralympic

Tommy Fagerlund, Storebrand Baltic and Julija Lisovskaja, Raidla, Lejins & Norcous exchanging business cards

Photos by Tomas Demenis and Robertas Riabovas.

The chamber expresses its enormous gratitude to Burns Night’12 Premier Sponsor

General Sponsors

BCC member Andrius Končius, COWI Lietuva and Gintautas Dinda, Viskio Akademija near whisky table

Kevin Read, Bell Pottinger Business & Brand and Jurga Prakapaitė, BCC

BCC Members during AGM

Charity Raffle prizes Sponsors

Sponsors

Charity Raffle Golden prize Sponsors Dr. Daiva Janulaityte-Gunther TM

GR8/seminars

BCC Members Rolads Blezurs, 999 Design and Alistair DayStirrat, Odontika, Member of BCC Board

British Ambassador David Hunt and Chris Butler, PwC, Chairman of the BCC Photos by Tomas Demenis

Games organised by the British Embassy Vilnius. This year’s Burns Night has raised a record amount of 20.000 Litas since 2000, when the first Burns Night in Lithuania was held by the BCC. The British Chamber of Commerce once again expresses great gratitude for enormous support it has received from Burns Night participants this year.

BCC paper Spring 2012

Leadership and Resilience workshops at New BCC Members experience Cruise Lithuanian Universities trip to Stockholm with Tallink

Mike discussing the conference with Professor Dalia Bagdžiūnienė on their last visit in October 2011. Mike Guttridge and Terry Gregory returned to Vilnius – their 16th visit since 2005 – to speak at the Psychology and Management conference "Psichologas organizacijoje. Lyderystės teorija ir praktika"organised by Vilnius University. Over a busy weekend first they presented a preconference workshop on “Resilient Leadership” on Friday the 20th then a paper on “Psychologists in UK

organisations” as part of an opening plenary session on Saturday. Following that they went to Kaunas, at the invitation of Professor Loreta Bukšnytė from the Theoretical Psychology Department in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Vytautas Magnus University. There they presented a full day workshop on leadership to postgraduate students. That was their first workshop for VDU – although Mike obtained his Diploma in Language and Culture there in 2008 - and they took the opportunity to meet faculty staff to discuss possible further collaboration. Of course Terry and Mike also enjoyed catching up with as many Lithuanian colleagues as possible including Jurgita Jankuviene at Profesiniai Kontaktai in Kaunas, Finn Peterson at IPM in Vilnius, and the staff at BCCL. Based again at the Shakespeare Hotel it goes without saying that they also enjoyed the fine local restaurants in Vilnius.

Publicum will share their experience with pupils our experiences with the growing generation – future business and your potential employees’, - says Artūras Jonkus, Director of Publicum.

Public reations company Publicum has joined professional volunteering project 'Who Needs it?!', where business professionals are invited to share their experience with pupils and help them learn in an unconventional manner. The project will help pupils in choosing their professional career path and inspire them to learn and be creative. ‘Participating in this project is an opportunity to inspire and excite willingness to pupils to learn and most importantly – to help decide what specialty to choose. At the same time, this is as a chance to share

A part of Publicum workers has passed special training and now are going to introduce the profession of public relations specialist, teach pupils about communication topics and participate in creativity-spurring activities at lessons. What is more, pupils will learn of the ways to use the knowledge that one gains at school in real life. According to the plan of project 'Who Needs it?!', 95% of schools are to participate during the first 4 years of the project with 3000 planned meetings with pupils. 2000 professionals from various businesses will be part of the professional volunteer work project. The project was initiated by telecommunications company Omnitel and bank Swedbank. More infromation can be found at www.kamtoreikia.lt

The new upcoming additions at Le Méridien Vilnius

We are pleased to introduce our new Food & Beverage Director, Gary Rosen, who joins Le Meridien Vilnius after over 15 years of successful career in the Far East and South Pacific. Gary began working in his homeland and soon began introducing his special touch as Chef into his different positions. His ample experience with Asian cuisine will bring to Le Méridien Vilnius the following new, exciting and delicious changes to our venues: Bora-Bora, our over the water restaurant, will be transformed to a contemporary Polynesian & Asian influenced restaurant The “Le Paysage” menu will incorporate the latest trend in dining: the new Northern Baltic and Nordic Cuisine, to its longstanding menu Sunday brunch – every Sunday, from 11:30am to 3pm, a sumptuous meal, incl. a complimentary

Bloody Mary or Mimosa plus free access to our Spa We are also pleased to announce that Le Meridien Vilnius and The V Golf Club are nominated in World Travel Awards 2012 as Lithuania’s Leading Hotel (award we are proud to have won 3 consecutive years) and as Europe’s Leading Golf Resort and we invite all BCC members to come, discover, play and enjoy the game. And for your pre or post game meal or refreshment, the new Long Course lounge will be opening soon, with casual, easy to eat comfort foods, including but not limited to the brand new, signature V Burger: 150grams of choice meat, oversized bun, cheese, baby-back bacon, sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, homemade chips… Please show your BCC member card and benefit from many discounts, incl. 15% off on food and beverage and 20% off on green fees.

To follow up on a successful cooperation in 2011 with the British Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania, Tallink group have presented the gift cards to some of the chamber new members, which joined in the period of May-December 2011. The idea behind it was to let those new members experience the same unforgettable emotions that the other chamber members have already experienced during the exclusive Cruise trip to Stockholm, which was kindly arranged and fully provided by Tallink Group in April 2011. The new members were gifted with a Tallink gift card inviting them to a sea voyage – cruise trip from Riga to Stocholm on board their ferries M/S Romantika or M/S Festival. During the journey the BCC new members had an opportunity to experience relaxation and entertainment on the Baltic Sea. As a follow up, we asked one of our members Lina Luneckienė, Ober Haus (in the picture) to refresh and share the memories from the trip: Have you heard about the cruise trips Riga – Stockholm with Tallink Group before? Did the whole trip meet your expectations? No, I didn’t know that Riga – Stockholm Cruise trips existed at all, as I never had any intentions to travel to Stockholm from Riga using a water road. I have to admit, that the Tallink gift card was a nice Christmas surprise and to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from this trip. I invited a group of friends to join me and we all had a great time. The cabin was comfortable, plenty of romantic moments watching the sea and the full moon through the cabin window, good buffets and evening entertainment programme in a big hall and on another day a fabulous time spent in Stockholm. Did you have a good time in general and what parts of entertainment on board did you like most? As did say already, we had a great time. What

On March 30th Transcom was transformed into the oasis of fun, innovation, excellence, honesty and passion – 5 values which reflect the company. And the reason was – 10year anniversary of Transcom in Lithuania. In 2002 Transcom journey started with 107 employees in Vilnius. Now there are two centers with

over 600 operational seats and 700+ employees. Our Clients are well known local and international companies both operating in Lithuania and/or other countries. Successful growth has been achieved through reliability, high quality standards and employee dedication to everything they do. Transcom Lithuania has also been chosen to work as one of Transcom internal shared service centers for professional business support to internal company needs. Birthday celebration was a big event for all Transcom employees welcomed with enthusiasm, Thank You words, games, prizes, and of course good mood. While going through the corridor you could hear people speaking: “Today is Transcom birthday, I am working here, so it means today is my birthday”. It was a celebration for everyone who made this company a success story.

Deloitte Lithuania office welcomed a highly experienced partner Saulius Bakas I personally liked the most was the time, when I could talk to my friends without any rush while having breakfast or dinner, with the dining room being surrounded by fantastic view of the sea. The evening show programme was good too. We watched a show arranged by the artists from Cuba. It was an incredible performance. We really enjoyed it! Would you recommend this trip to your friends and why? I definitely would, mainly because to most of my friends it would be undiscovered way of travelling to Stockholm by water, plus it’s not just a trip, it’s the whole complex of what you can do while being on ferry and this brings a nice difference from say air trip. It’s an excellent journey for a group of friends, colleagues or families.

New Baltic operation to target Central/ Eastern European and Scandinavian market IT and Financial Services Recruitment specialists Bright Purple Resourcing has opened new offices in Vilnius. The Scottish-based company, headquartered in Edinburgh, also has operations in London and Singapore. It has initially employed a team of five in Vilnius which they aim to grow through new business development in the Baltic states, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe. The new Lithuania operation is led by Egle Belzute, a former senior project manager from the economic enterprise organisation Invest Lithuania. A graduate of Vilnius University and University of London, she has just completed recruiting the team for the new office. In its 2010/11 financial results, Bright Purple reported growth in its annual turnover to £37m, nearly doubling the previous year’s performance. Bright Purple’s Chief Executive Nick Price said:

10th Birthday of Transcom in Lithuania Thomson Reuters: LAWIN retains the leading

“Opening in Lithuania marks another major step forward in our quest to paint the world purple through global expansion of our great brand. “We chose to come to Lithuania because it offers a well educated and motivated workforce and seems an ideal fit for the great culture and strong work ethic which we have instilled in this business. There are some great early-stage opportunities in the region where we see a bright future for the business. “I’m also delighted that we have attracted someone of Egle’s calibre to join us and lead our growth plans in the region. I had the pleasure of initially working with her through her role at Invest Lithuania and I knew early on that she was definitely a Bright Purple person with her desire to succeed and her passion for delivering a great customer experience. I am confident that she has the personal qualities and the contacts to lead us in making a real success of this new operation.”

Deloitte, the Big 4 professional business services firm, is pleased to announce that from 1st March 2012 Saulius Bakas, an experienced Deloitte partner joined the Lithuanian office. He will be acting as an audit partner within the firm and will contribute towards firm’s development, growth and related strategic plans. Saulius will provide outstanding support to Deloitte Lithuania Managing Partner Tim Mahon in order to strengthen all functions of the firm. Saulius has had extensive experience in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (“TMT”) sector. Prior to joining the Lithuanian office, Saulius was the Partner in charge of the Deloitte CIS West Region TMT practice and is an

active member of the global technology and telecoms community. Before moving to Ukraine, Saulius was working in San Jose, California, where he was serving high tech companies based in the Silicon Valley. He gained considerable experience in IFRS and US GAAP, SEC accounting and reporting, internal controls attestation, corporate governance and IPO services. According to Tim Mahon, Deloitte Managing Partner, it is always exciting to welcome new talent into the partnership. “I am sure that Saulius will make a substantial contribution to our firm’s clients over the coming years. This is an additional contributor towards for our firm’s success, highlighting our commitment to invest for long-term growth. I believe Saulius will help our clients to develop and grow their businesses significantly. He brings with him a great deal of knowledge gained in the CIS, the USA and before that in Lithuania. Therefore I wish Saulius great success in his role", - added Tim Mahon. Saulius gained a Master of Economics degree in Vilnius University, Lithuania, and currently he is an active member of the ACCA as well as AICPA (California CPA).

“Aviva Lithuania” offers a new fund for investment

Asta Grabinskė, the CEO of “Aviva Lithuania”

“Aviva Lithuania” as part of the global “Aviva” group has the opportunity to offer extensive investment options under the life insurance umbrella. The company currently provides the opportunity for customers to invest with 14 investment strategies in major world capital markets. For most customers life insurance products are eligible for personal income tax deductions. The clients also enjoy favorable tax treatment when changing the composition of their

investment portfolio “Today we are happy to announce that we are expanding our offer. In addition to 14 globally focused investment strategies we propose a new conservative investment fund. Our new investment strategy will mainly invest in Lithuania government bonds, and for the purpose of diversification the government securities of other EU countries with more healthy economies and more predictable public policies will be added to the portfolio. The new conservative fund is our response to the customers who look for safer investment areas with better return opportunities in today’s volatile financial markets”, says Asta Grabinskė, the CEO of “Aviva Lithuania”. Clients can build an investment portfolio out of 15 funds according to their tolerance to risk and return requirements from very safe investment means such as the money market or government bond funds to emerging market equities with much bigger potential for returns, albeit with an increased probability of price volatility.

One-visit dentistry at Odontika

For business people making frequent visits to the dentist can be time consuming. Likewise people travelling to Lithuania for dental treatment have in the past had to wait 4-5 days to have crowns or bridges made, all of which adds additional expenses. CEREC is revolutionizing the dental industry, enabling porcelain restorations to be completed within just 1 appointment. With the acquisition of laboratory processing Odontika can now offer same day

crowns, bridges, veneers, in-lays and on-lays. What does this mean for you? The powerful CEREC AC CONNECT and InLab allows our dentists to digitally scan in the mouth using exclusive Bluecam technology, which provides digital impressions of the highest precision for impeccable results, and mill the required fitting. A standard crown can be produced in less than an hour meaning only one visit is needed, there is less drilling, fewer injections, and with digitally scanning you get the most accurate fitting. Globally, in about every twenty seconds, a CEREC restoration takes place. In its twenty-year history, this technology has enabled dentists to make more than six million restorations. Employing materials that do not contain any metals and closely resemble your natural tooth enamel, CEREC provides superior quality restorative treatment. CEREC is available in Lithuania through Odontika.

position as top M&A legal adviser in the Baltics

Mr. Žilvinas Zinkevičius, Head of the LAWIN Corporate and M&A practice group

Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, has recently published its M&A Legal Review for 2011, ranking LAWIN as the top legal adviser for Mergers & Acquisitions in the Baltics. In the Thomson Reuters’ Mid-Market M&A Legal Review (deals valued up to USD 500 million), LAWIN takes the No. 3 position in Central and Eastern Europe with 22 M&A deals in its portfolio - the highest number of M&A transactions of any law firm in Lithu-

ania, Latvia or Estonia. In the Small-Cap M&A Legal Review (deals valued up to USD 50 million), LAWIN enjoys the No. 2 position for Central and Eastern Europe by number of deals - the highest rank among law firms in the Baltics. Bloomberg, another world leading source of business information, has recently upgraded its M&A data for 2011. Bloomberg’s data shows that LAWIN, with its USD 1.4 billion value of disclosed M&A deals advised in 2011, holds the No. 1 position in the Baltics. Žilvinas Zinkevičius, Head of the LAWIN Corporate and M&A practice group, says that despite tight competition in the M&A market, LAWIN is continuously ranked as the top player among the legal advisers in the Baltics. “It has taken a significant amount of time and investments for LAWIN to build the excellent M&A team and know-how in the market and, despite tight competition, we are now able to bear the fruits. However, the biggest achievement is our clients’ and market players’ faith in us and our ability to outperform the market”, - Mr. Zinkevičius says. He also adds that the beginning of 2012 gives a reasonable expectation that this year will be a busy one for LAWIN’s M&A professionals.

Scandinavian Airlines SAS goes for Holiday Destinations

As the largest airline in Northern Europe, for many years SAS has been the customer’s first choice for business travel. In the meantime, in line with its new strategy, since 2012 SAS has started expanding its horizons by introducing an increasing number of new routes for the holiday traveller. „Regardless of your reason for travelling, be it for an important business meeting or for holidays, we‘ll get you there," says Rūta Jucienė, SAS Representative

Manager, Lithuania. Most people start thinking of their holidays in advance: where to go, what to see, what to do? Here SAS can offer its customers a wide range of soughtafter destinations all around the world, while some of the routes are new additions available for the first time this year. Travellers from Vilnius or Palanga can now quickly and comfortably reach Malaga, Split, Katowice and Dubrovnik, as well as Shanghai via Copenhagen. Those travelling from Palanga, can also easily reach Antalya and Faro via Oslo. In addition, in June 2012 SAS will open a direct route from Copenhagen to Tel Aviv, yet another Mediterranean gem worth visiting. Tel Aviv is Israel's financial and commercial hub, but at the same time there is a wealth of cultural experiences, undoubtedly rich historical heritage as well as wonderful beaches. SAS has been operating in Lithuania for 20 years with regular flights from Vilnius and Palanga.

Raidla Lejins & Norcous Advised a Major Norwegian Retail Chain in Its Acquisition of R-Kioski

Senior Associate Eva Suduiko

Raidla Lejins & Norcous, together with colleagues from Roschier, advised the Norwegian retail chain Reitan Servicehandel in its acquisition of the retail chain R-Kioski from the Finnish media concern Sanoma OY. R-kioski comprising the R-kioski chain in Finland, R-kiosk in Estonia and Lithuania, and

Lietuvos Spauda in Lithuania The closing of the deal worth 448.86 million litas (EUR 130 m) is expected to occur in a couple of months after obtaining clearance from the European Commission. Following the acquisition Reitan Servicehandel will control more than 2,500 stores with an aggregate turnover of 6.51 billion litas to become Europe’s second largest convenience store operator after the French-owned Lagardere. Reitan Servicehandel is owned by Norway’s fifth largest company the Reitan Group. Raidla Lejins & Norcous’ work included the due diligence of the Lithuanian chain, advice concerning the risks discovered during the due diligence, as well as proposed corporate reorganization, and transaction documents. The transaction was led by Senior Associate Eva Suduiko, with assistance from the firm’s Senior Associate Rūta Radzevičiūtė and other associates.

Baltic Legal Solutions Lithuania: enhancing strengths in IP, IT and Marketing sector Professional Law Partnership Baltic Legal Solutions Lithuania has long been known for its legal academics as well as for its exclusive IP law experience. As of 2012 a separate Department of IP, IT and Marketing law has been established at Baltic Legal Solutions Lithuania. Its team will further develop the issues of IP, IT, Product Marketing and Unfair Competition. Undoubtedly, the team is led by one of the most prominent legal academics in Lithuania, an expert

in IP law, BLS Lithuania partner prof. dr. (HP) Vytautas Mizaras, LL.M. The team also comprises other distinguished professionals in this area – World Intelectual Property Organization (WIPO) consultant advocate dr. Kristina Janušauskaitė and advocate dr. Mantas Rimkevičius, who has recently defended his doctoral dissertation on advertising law. All the mentioned lawyers are also lecturing at the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University.

BCC paper Spring 2012

Danske Bank A/S Lithuanian branch awarded the title of Lithuania's most socially responsible business A lack of financial literacy

Managing director Gintautas Galvanauskas giving a speech at the awards ceremony

On 15 March, 2012 Danske Bank's A/S Lithuanian branch won the prestigious “Socially Responsible Business Award 2011” assigned by the Lithuanian Business Confederation. Danske Bankas in Lithuania was acknowledged for a strong focus on customers, employees, environment and society. In 2011, social responsibility was strongly developed by teaching society financial literacy in projects such as “Financial Literacy Olympics”, “Explore the bank”, “Moneyville”, etc.

The manager of Danske Bankas in Lithuania, Gintautas Galvanauskas said that the acknowledgment and support of the whole business community is really important for Danske Bankas. He also admitted that only by working together can we gain more knowledge and experience which helps solve the most important problems in society. One of those problems now is the lack of financial literacy. “Our local and international knowledge and experience could be the best way of helping people of any age to gain or enhance their skills in financial literacy” said Gintautas Galvanauskas. How to win The main purpose of the “Socially Responsible Business Award” is to stimulate the perception of social responsibility in the business environment. All organizations and associations in Lithuania are welcome to join the competition each year. The main criteria of evaluation is the originality of solutions in meeting existing society needs, partnerships and cooperation with local communities and NGO's and the promotion of social responsibility in Lithuania.

Zabolis Partners publishes new Baltic Retail Monitor The private equity and investment banking group Zabolis Partners have issued their bi-annual Baltic Retail Monitor. Their research summarizes macro economic and retail sales indicators for the Baltic region. Special attention is paid to the use of comparable data for the three countries. Economic growth in the region was strongly positive in 2011 and is expected to continue at a lower level. Inflation ranged between 4,1% in Lithuania and 5,1% in Estonia and is forecast to be about 2,5% in Lithuania this year. Unemployment showed a first full year decline across the region since 2007, but remains significantly above 10%. Retail data (excluding cars and fuel) are shown at nominal level (i.e. do not account for inflation) and have been indexed to 2007. Total sales have finally increased again in all Baltic countries, but remain below 2007, when much discretionary expenditure was financed by consumer loans. Spending on food continues to de-

crease in Latvia and Estonia, despite the opening of new super- and hypermarkets in the region. The retail indicators showed a slight decrease in the fourth quarter of 2011, as consumer confidence dropped significantly during the concerns over the Euro currency zone. This development highlights once more the strong correlation between consumers’ expectations about the future and their willingness to spend. Investment confidence, on the other hand, has been returning, with several major transactions taking place in the sector. After the acquisition of Kristiine Keskus in Tallinn, Finnish investors also bought the shopping centre Babilonas in Panevežys. Retailers, too, have opened up to expanding into the Baltics: H&M announced that they will open two stores in Riga until the end of this year. Negotiations for locations in Lithuania and Estonia are under way. The entire report is available at Zabolis Partners website.

“DPA Lietuva” now offers a new important service: IT continuity planning

“DPA Lietuva” CEO Laurynas Truncė

Monitoring the situation in the business market, international information technology company “DPA Lietuva” notes, that in modern business it is very important to analyze the processes within each company and to evaluate potential risks. The goal of IT continuity planning is designed to assess a company's willingness to continue its work in case of data loss, critical system failure and other disasters disrupting information technology work. IT continuity planning is essential for many businesses, especially for those, who can not afford to lose their accumulated important and sensitive information, as well as for those companies which would collapse in the result of an IT systems failure. IT company’s

“DPA Lietuva” CEO Laurynas Truncė provides an example: “If a company which specializes in the dairy industry suffers an IT system collapse, it may stop collecting raw and materials, stop logistics and other critical functions that ensure the company's work. "If a company is not prepared and does not have a clear plan for how to behave in that situation it would lose a lot of money"- notes DPA Lietuva's CEO. According to him, IT continuity planning can show the main business' continuity gaps as well as showing how the company may continue to operate after the failure of critical information systems without major losses. "DPA Lietuva" observing the current situation in the business market, points out, that many companies have a dismissive attitude about the importance of data backup and recovery. Company offers a new service to its current and potential business customers to set up a data backup and recovery strategy, which will be described by a system of rules, deadlines and timetables for reconstruction. After the creation of an IT continuity plan, a company is sure about its important data, which facilitates the IT infrastructure and the work of administrative staff.

INTERNATIONAL TAX PLANNING WITH GENCS VALTERS LAW FIRM Gencs Valters Law Firm having offices in 3 Baltic countries – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – is appreciated by its clients both as business law and tax law professionals. We are pleased to inform that World Finance 2011 Legal Award „Best Tax Firm” for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is given to our law firm. World Finance is a leading financial magazine, produced every two months by World News Media from its Headquarters in London. The firm specializes in international tax planning which may be specifically interesting for UK companies doing business in Lithuania due to the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) concluded in between UK and Lithuania. Specific benefits include reduce of the company’s expenditures and increase of the profits, decreased withholding taxes, elimination of double taxation. The DTA is applicable to taxes on income and on capital gains imposed on behalf of Lithuania or UK, such as the income tax, the corporation tax and the capital

gains tax in UK, and the corporate income tax as well as the personal income tax in Lithuania. Moreover, the DTA is also applicable to any identical or substantially similar taxes. In accordance with the laws implemented by the European integration, there is a possibility for the UK companies to pay some taxes outside the UK if certain conditions are satisfied. In business it’s always worth estimating where the taxes are lower and making respective business decisions. For example, moving the loss from one company to another one of the other member state and consequently paying less withholding taxes. Furthermore, special taxation rules are applicable regarding the dividends. Dividends between the EU companies as far as they satisfy certain conditions (companies are not from the purposive territories, etc.) shall be taxed by zero percent withholding tax. As well royalties and interests received in the EU are taxed more favorably.

The first in Lithuania level A fertilization SORAINEN regains its “Baltic Law laboratory has been opened Firm of the Year” title

Laboratory has been opened in Baltic American Clinic. The rate of success of assisted fertilization depends on variety of factors – not only experience of a doctor, but also equipment of the laboratory, where his methods are applied. From now on doctors assisting couples to have a baby expect even better results – it’s likely that even those couples whose attempts failed so far shall be able to enjoy the success. Level A lab shall become another hope for those craving to become a fully fledged family. Why level A lab? Opening of the lab door does not cause outside air to puff in – special system

maintains so called positive pressure inside keeping outside air out. There are no big windows to protect gametes and embrions from the harm of sun rays. Lab’s room is cleaned with alcohol and fragrance free agents. The walls are covered with special laminated material. Ceramic tiles or painting is not allowed to avoid sticking even the smallest particles to the surface. The staff is wearing special antistatic overalls. Accessing the lab without such overall is strictly prohibited. Air temperature inside is maintained at 25oC. Other standards are very strict as well. For example, only 3500 particles with size less than half of micron are allowed in one cubic meter of air in the surroundings where procedures with gametes are performed. Now Baltic American Clinic has absolutely all means to diagnose reasons of infertility and effectively treat them. The clinic at the moment is the only in the country offering infertile patient the whole complex of services – from doctor’s consultancy to baby delivery and care. After becoming pregnant women shall be cared by ginecologist, receive all the medical tests and give birth in cosy, comfortable environment.

„Lithuanian export award” of 2011 year goes to Baldai Jums

Nijolė Meškauskienė, company Financial Director receiving the award from Lithuanian Prime Minister A. Kubilius

Lithuanian furniture producer “Baldai Jums”has been awarded for the exceptionally successful export development. The awards ceremony was held in the Lithuanian Government House presented by Prime Minister A. Kubilius. Significant growth of export. During 2011 Baldai Jums company’s export expanded by 67 %. The main activities where manufacture and export of solid wood furniture. The export market. Currently, company output is shared between Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands and focused in production of living room, bedroom and children furniture. Only 5 percent stay in Lithuania. Special attention is paid to our Lithuanian customers, who can buy this furniture in the company’s store in Vilnius “Akropolis” shopping mall. Marked input to the budget of district. According to company’s General Director Alfonsas Meškauskas – the town of Jonava has a very old furniture production traditions. Company “Baldai Jums” has up to 350 employees. During the last several months 46 new work places were created. Taking into account the somewhat problematic district of Jonava, it is a really significant achievement in lowering the level of unemployment there.

Company profile. The company is specialized in manufacture of birch and oak furniture. The company offers traditional and contemporary living room, bedroom and children furniture. Ecologic furniture. The very exceptional feature of this company is environmentally friendly and ecological production. It is very important to live in the place which cannot harm your health and surrounded by beautiful and durable furniture. A company’s watchword is – “A piece of nature in your home”. The use of natural motives is frequent at home decoration if we want to brighten it. Our furniture is the piece of nature that we can bring into ours homes, it brings life environed by beautiful and long- life furniture. And this is not all. Efficiency. Also the same we could say about the production process – because Baldai Jums has a very effective raw material – especially wood – usage: the best wood is picked for the most expensive furniture production and then the rest of the material goes to economic class furniture and finally sawdust is turned into wood briquettes. Sawdust? A company produces wood briquettes from the sawdust which caloric content is even five times better than ordinary wood. The raw material is used very effectively and sparingly – without any damage to nature. During the furniture production processes the by-product created is itself a very useful product.

From left to right: SORAINEN partners Tomas Kontautas, Reimo Hammerberg, Rūdolfs Eņģelis and managing partner Pekka Puolakka

After a gap of one year, SORAINEN has won its third “Baltic Law Firm of the Year” award at the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) European Awards 2012, held in London on 22 March 2012. SORAINEN had already been honoured with this international acknowledgement two years in a row back in 2009 and 2010. IFLR established the award for the Baltics in 2008. SORAINEN received the award for its contribution to the most complex and innovative international transactions in the Baltic region in 2011. Particular recognition came for the legal and tax assistance provided in Hitachi's strategic investment in the

Club Carlson for Meeting Planners Rewards Program The Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva has entered the Club Carlson hotel rewards program. The Club Carlson for Planners program targets meeting and event planners. A planner is anyone who books a special event or meeting at the Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva or any other participating Carlson hotel worldwide. Corporate meetings, birthday celebrations, corpo-

BCC Small company Member

Law firm “Vinkleris and partners”

Mr Paulius Vinkleris, attorney at law

The furniture produced by Baldai Jums

Special offers for new corporate clients at Ūkio bankas

Ūkio bankas is the only commercial bank in Lithuania that has been operating for as long as 22 years, providing a wide range of services for private clients as well as business companies. Corporate clients upon opening a new account

rate luncheons and wedding receptions all earn Gold Points . Once enrolled as a member, you can earn Gold Points® for your event. Planners can choose to redeem points in any of the more than 1000 participating Carlson hotels anywhere in the world. Plus, you can redeem your points for airline miles, Prepaid Cards and more.

Presenting New BCC Members

BCC Social Member Mervyn Richardson

with Ūkio bankas can take advantage of special fees valid all year round: they are offered local and international transfers and cash desk operations for 2 months free of charge as well as receiving a 50 per cent discount for the following 10 months. A company’s account will be opened and served free of charge. The Maestro Business/Visa Business Electron payment card will be issued and served with the Eta bankas internet banking service provided free of charge. Salaries are deposited to employees accounts free of charge for all companies that have entered into the direct deposit of salaries agreement as well as selected free of charge debit cards being issued to all employees of the company: Maestro, Visa Electron or Maestro Žalgiris and other benefits.

new nuclear power plant project in Lithuania, the cross-border merger of Heidelberg Druckmaschinen subsidiaries in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland, drafting PPP documentation for the approx EUR 1.5 billion Riga Northern Transport Corridor Project and advising on Elering's EUR 225 million debut Eurobond issue on the London Stock Exchange. “It is an honour to be awarded by IFLR for the third time. We would like to thank our trusted clients and cooperation partners for growing with SORAINEN and entrusting us with award winning assignments,” comments Aku Sorainen, senior partner at SORAINEN. IFLR, part of the Euromoney Legal Media Group and issued for over 20 years, is the world's leading publication for in-house counsel and practitioners in financial markets. The annual IFLR European Awards recognise the leading law firms in Europe for advising on the most complex and innovative international transactions in the areas of debt, equity and capital markets, project financing, restructuring and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). IFLR awards are based on submissions by firms plus feedback from clients, in-house counsel and financing specialists at international financial institutions.

Mr Mervyn Richardson

Mervyn first visited Vilnius in July 1995, on Mission from the United Nations Industrial Development Agency [UNIDO] as a High-Level consultant in Chemical Safety. His major interest was in chemicals left by the Russians! Mervyn is a Graduate of the University of Aston in Birmingham, were he read Pure and Applied Chemistry and Plastics Technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, [RSC], Chartered Chemist, European Chemist and Chartered Biologist. During his visit in 1995, Mervyn became acquainted with Associate Professor Anolda Cetkauskaite. Anolda wrote a Chapter for a book Mervyn was editing on Environment Xenobiotics.

Law firm “Vinkleris and partners” is an international law firm providing wide range legal services to Lithuanian and foreign clients. We are carefully following the tendencies of a legal development in Europe and we are the only law firm in Lithuania that has direct contacts with "Eurojuris International" network. We are ready to assist our clients with a high quality legal advice regarding taxes, company establishment and competition, as well as family and labor law issues. Company Contact Details: Law firm “Vinkleris and partners” Aukų Str. 5-5, Vilnius Tel: +370 5 2639966 E-mail: info@legalconsulting.lt www.legalconsulting.lt/

In 1995, Mervyn visited ~ 25 countries mostly Central and Eastern Europe, but in all has visited ~ 60 countries for the UN. Hence, he is a truly International person. To cut a long story short, Anolda and Mervyn were married in 2007. They have apartments in Vilnius and Crawley, England, which they are selling the Crawley Apartment, so that Mervyn can be full time in Lithuania. During Mervyn’s second visit to Vilnius in 2006, he visited BCCL and remained interested in BCCL affairs, but only becoming a Social member in 2012. Mervyn is very active RSC matters and has been a Member of their Council twice. In September 2011, Mervyn delivered a lecture as part of the celebrations of the International Year of Chemistry to the Faculty of Chemistry in Vilnius, outlining the role of the RSC. Mervyn is now striving to have Chartered Status recognised in Lithuania with the assistance of UNESCO. Chartered status in not recognised in Lithuania and Mervyn feels strongly that it should. There are a number of BCCL Members who have Chartered status in Lithuania. In Lithuania Associated Professor / Professor or a Licensed Professional are recognised. Perhaps, a topic for a BCCL Meeting! Contacts: Mr Mervyn Richardson E-mail: mlr15@anolda.orangehome.co.uk

BCC paper Spring 2012

14 Presenting New BCC Members BCC Group Member Radisson Blu Astorija

“Radisson Blu Astorija“ is a five star hotel in Vilnius with an individual interior invoking an inviting, exciting ambiance and a holistic hospitality experience that is totally relevant to now. The “Radisson Blu Astorija” hotel is a part of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The hotel is conveniently located in the heart of Vilnius' Old Town, only a few minutes from the business and entertainment district and approximately ten minutes drive from the city's international airport. The Hotel offers 119 classic decor rooms with spectacular views of the Old Town. Rooms are very spacious with a business workplace, equipped with the latest amenities and high-tech communications. The Hotel offers almost all executive services: business center, complimentary wired and wireless high-speed internet access, Health & Fitness features, transporta-

BCC Corporate member Bright Purple Resourcing Ms. Egle Belzute, Head of Central Eastern Europe and Baltics and Mr. Nick Price, CEO

Founded in 1995, Bright Purple is one of the UK’s leading specialist recruitment companies. With its headquarters in Edinburgh and offices in London, Singapore and Vilnius, its focus is on providing a quality recruitment service to clients in the IT and the financial services sector. Key services include permanent staff, contract resources and senior appointments, as well as managed services to a global client base which includes Tesco Bank, the financial services arm of the UK supermarket giant; Heineken; Credit Suisse; JP Morgan and Barclays Wealth. Bright Purple’s financial performance has been nothing short of sensational, especially in the current challenging economic climate. Revenue increased from £18.7m last year to £37m - a 96 per cent increase – with profits up from £430,000 to £1.4m in 2010/11. This followed a 48 per cent rise in revenues in the previous financial year.

BCC Small Company Member BCS International Ltd

Mr Steve Neale, Managing Director

BCS (The Behavior Change Specialists) is an international people development organization, dedicated to the practical use of emotional intelligence to improve the way individuals and teams manage their performance and increase bottom line results. Over the last 10 years we have trained more than 3,500 senior managers in Lithuania with a 100% recommendation rate. Our MASTERS in HIGH PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP is a 6 module, 9 month, action focused training Leadership Masters, that offers executives the opportunity to discover and fulfill own HIGH PERFORMANCE potential, acquire an understanding of how to use emotional intelligence to improve the way they lead yourself and others, get concrete tools and techniques for linking emotional intelligence to strategy, performance and bottom line.

BCC Corporate member SC Žemaitijos pienas Long-year history, unique products and growing loyalty of consumers make the name of one of the biggest Lithuanian milk processing companies SC Žemaitijos pienas known worldwide. The company was established as early as in the year 1924 in Telšiai. Today SC Žemaitijos pienas is one of the biggest and leading milk processing plants in the Baltic aStates. The long-year experience and unique recipes enable to provide a rich assortment of products that distinguish themselves for excellent taste and high quality confirmed by abundant awards gained at national and international exhibitions. At present, SC Žemaitijos pienas produces over 200 of different milk products that are highly appreciated by a majority of consumers in Lithuania and foreign countries. Production of SC Žemaitijos pienas is exported to EU, Russia, USA as well as Great Britain where own brand products are available in multiple supermarket chains. Annually growing sales attest the firm leading position of the company in local

tion to and from Vilnius International Airport or around Vilnius. The Hotel also offers a new restaurant and a cozy bar. “Brasserie de Verres en Vers” is a modern interpretation of the French brasserie. With an all-day menu, the emphasis at “Brasserie de Verres en Vers” is on classic French fare, with ever changing plats du jour and a focus on fresh, high quality products. The menu is complemented by a carefully chosen list of French wines and champagne and a great selection of aperitifs and digestives. The “Astorija Bar” is a well known bar in the city where everyone can enjoy the spirit and atmosphere of the bustling Old Town from the veranda of the Astorija Bar and relax after a busy day. The “Radisson Blu Astorija” hotel inspires with a touch of history, elegance and sophistication, welcoming guests with tailored amenities, exemplary service and an experience which embraces the individuality of each guest. Company Contact details: Radisson Blu Astorija Didžioji Street 35/2, LT - 01128, Vilnius, Lithuania Tel: +370 5 212 0110 Fax: +370 5 212 1762 E-mail: vilnius@radissonblu.com www.radissonblu.com/hotel-vilnius As impressive as these figures are, Bright Purple’s growth goes beyond its sales numbers. In 2011 the company became a global operation with the launch of its first international offices in Singapore, opened in May 2011. In January the Lithuania operation was opened, targeting central and eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic region. At the end of 2011 the company also launched the Bright Purple Academy, an internal training facility designed to further develop its own people and offer leadership training for external clients. The academy also provides an important social role hosting the Bright Futures Programme, an initiative launched by CEO Nick Price to help long term unemployed youths through personal development training. Bright Purple is focused on growth through ‘Exceptional Performance,’ delivery of a high quality recruitment service to its clients and candidates. Its people operate in an environment where a commitment to hard work is rewarded by a company that believes in having fun and giving something back to the communities it serves. Company Contact details: Bright Purple Resourcing Business Centre 'Regus' Vilniaus 31/Islandijos 1, LT-01402 Vilnius, Lithuania Email: egle.belzute@brightpurple.lt www.brightpurple.co.uk OPEN COURSES (“Outstanding Leadership Using the Limbic Learning System”) - 2 day programme, which helps explain the roots of all your behavior and gives you practical, hands on tools for developing your attitudes, emotions, thoughts and behaviors to live a more energized, successful and motivated life. This course was given the Government Award for Best Training Course in the UK, 2010. IN – COMPANY PROGRAMMES. These are programmes customized to fit in with and compliment existing processes in organizations, whilst at the same time producing clear changes in performance. Why is the BCS training approach different? BCS, based on years of experience and with the foundation of the latest scientific evidence from the brain, has developed a training system - The Limbic Learning System™, which works below the “behavior iceberg” (changing things in our subconscious brain) and focuses on human core emotional needs, attitudes, beliefs, our values, emotions and thoughts, things we do not see – but they all play a vital role in the behavior or performance we show. Company Contact details: BCS International Ltd UK – Mr Steve Neale E-mail: steve@bcsinternational.net Tel.: +44 7931 580932 Lithuania – Ms Gintare Jonaityte E-mail: gintare@bcsinternational.net Tel.: +370 615 767 56 www.bcsinternational.net

market and the ability to strengthen its position in foreign markets. The company applies the BACTOCATCH milk purification technology (the only in the Baltic States) that ideally eliminates microbes from milk and preserves the nutritional worth of natural milk. Products made of milk processed in the said way are tasty, nutritive and healthy. SC Žemaitijos pienas selects the raw milk and controls the process of production using strict self-control system; in addition, the final products are tested at the laboratory. The company introduced the integrated food safety and quality management system that conforms to ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 22000:2005. This year of 2012, SC Žemaitijos pienas was awarded with British Retail Consortium Global Standard for Food Safety (A grade BRC), so customers can be sure about the safety, reliability and quality of its products. Company Contact details: SC Žemaitijos pienas Sedos St. 35, Telšiai, LT – 87101, Lithuania Tel: +370 444 22201 Fax: +370 444 22257 E-mail: export@zpienas.lt www.zpienas.lt

List of BCC Members BCC Sponsor Members

BCC Small Company Member 999 Design Group Ltd

Mr Rolands Blezūrs – Baltic Business Director

999 Design Group is a UK Branding and Communications business specializing in marketing, packaging, events and web design with branches in London, Manchester, Glasgow and the Baltic States. Originality is the lifeblood of our creative approach. The type of creative design that can shift customer perceptions, present a brand in a new light or give a message new meaning and power. 999 will create something out of the ordinary, capable of propelling a brand in the right direction. In this challenging environment, promoting your brand has never been more important. The commercial winners will be brands that are bold enough to behave differently, challenge sector norms and connect with consumers in more imaginative, meaningful ways. 999 has won major UK Design effectiveness and creative awards including Red Dot, DBA Design effectiveness, Design Business Association, Monaco

Luxe Packaging design and Digital Innovation awards. “There are some excellent companies in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who are producing world class products and who want to access the UK and other international markets. One of the key issues we have identified with Baltic companies is the relevancy of their print and online marketing messages to the UK market. We are delighted to be able to offer 999 Design’s services to Baltic businesses to help redesign or customise web sites, develop brand and information strategies and make marketing materials more impactful and relevant to the UK market.” RB Our client portfolio covers a wide spectrum of sectors from Food & Beverages to Technologies including global clients like Victoria Beckham, Lee Cooper, BBC, BT, Highland Spring, Financial institutions, Retail companies and destination and tourism marketing for municipalities and cities. 999 helps companies gain access, win new markets and establish distribution channels with the appropriate branding and communications strategies in place. Company Contact details: 999 Design Group Ltd Brīvības iela 40 – 25A, Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia Tel: +371 29220128 E-mail: rolands.blezurs@999design.com www.999Design.com

For more than 50 years, we at CSC have developed smart, technology-enabled solutions to solve our clients' toughest challenges, demonstrating a commitment to excellence and a passion for exceeding expectations. Over the past five decades, technology has radically changed the world we live in. We have remained at the forefront of our business because we have understood how to use changes in technology along with innovation to deliver value to our clients. COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION (CSC), employing 98,000 professionals around the world, the city of Vilnius, Lithuania as the strategic location for a new delivery center in Eastern Europe. The CSC Baltic center began operating on September 1, 2007 and we officially opened on March 28, 2008. The CSC delivery center in Lithuania is a Near Shore center servicing primarily the Nordic countries and supporting other CSC organizations in the English,

BERNOTAS & DOMINAS GLIMSTEDT (www.glimstedt.lt) / Legal services

Bunnahabhain rep. by Mineraliniai vandenys, UAB Production of single islay malt Scotch Whisky www.bunnahabhain.com

German, and French languages with a high level of expertise. Center Vision: CSC Baltic – pro-active, creative, ambitious organization – solid future CSC business force. Major achievements and performance facts of CSC Baltic Center: Grown to more than 250 people from establishment. Service exceeded all client requirements during this time period. The center is solid and stable in service delivery. Major awards received: CSC internal performance award, CSC Giraffe Award, American Corporate Citizenship Award. Recognitions received: for growth, optimism and strategy, being proactive and collaborative. Employees are very engaged and motivated, that’s why the attrition rate is very low. Quality ISO 9001/20000 and Security ISO 27001 certifications were received for the center. The majority of employees’ are certified with different kind of certifications. Socially responsible company.

Baltic Legal Solutions Lithuania Full service law firm www.blslawfirm.com

Carlson Wagonlit Travel Corporate travel management www.carlsonwagonlit.lt www.kalevatravel.lt

PricewaterhouseCoopers Assurance, Actuarial, Advisory, Tax and Legal services www.pwc.com/lt

Strategic Staffing Solutions International Provider of information technology solutions. Recruitment Services www.strategicstaff.com

BCC IT Partner

CID Baltic

Mr Martin Watts, Head of the company, Mrs Irena Čalkauskienė, Technical Director

Stress, the silent killer. We all know that stress, in controlled amounts, can be good for you. We need it to function in our everyday lives. But what happens when it gets the better of you? If it is serious, your Doctor may be the answer, but perhaps you can control a lot of it yourself without drugs, by changes to your thinking process, or using relaxation therapy, and that is where we come in. We are Stress Regress , a new company to Lithuania, set up to provide you with confidential, personal and individual help for health care, alleviating stress in the mind, and suggesting dietary changes, and exercise routines, among many varied and positive solutions. Initially, stress is measured using a simple non invasive method, and then treated in different ways, depending on your needs, as discussed and agreed with you. You will be asked to fill out a form asking general questions

BIURO PASAULIS, UAB (www.biuropasaulis.lt) (www.elektromedia.lt)/ /Office supplies, printing management and IT solutions

Bright Purple Resourcing (www.brightpurple.co.uk) / Technology and financial services recruitment specialists NEW! British Council (www.britishcouncil.lt) / the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Calenberg Vilnius (www.calenberg.lt )/ International moving/ relocation and dealership of the office furnitureSTEELCASE CAMIRA FABRICS Ltd (www.camirafabrics.com) / Contract seating & transportation fabric manufacturer Cool Milk EU Developments (www.coolmilk.com) is a company who work within the provision of School milk in Europe. COWI LIETUVA, UAB (www.cowi.lt) / Consulting and engineering services related to building design & engineering, energy, environment, territory planning, topographic survey, hydraulic engineering, technical supervision, water and sewage systems design CORMACK CONSULTANCY BALTIC LT Ltd (www.ccbaltic.eu)/ Business development, export development, market researches, consultancy in investment, innovation, management CSC Baltic, UAB (www.csc.com) / IT services NEW! DANSKE BANK A/S LIETUVOS FILIALAS (www.danskebankas.lt) / Banking services DELOITTE (www.deloitte.lt) / Audit. Tax & Legal. Consulting. Financial Advisory. Enterprise Risk Services DELTA MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, UAB (www.deltamanagement.lt )/ Recruitment, Executive Search, Temporary Staffing, Personnel Assessment, Outplacement, Greenfield Staffing Support DPA LIETUVA (www.dpa.lt) / IT infrastructure solutions, IT security solutions, Solutions for Education, software deployment and management, information and document management system, customized IT projects

BCC PR Partner

Company Contact Details: Stress Regress Basanavičiaus g.42-15, Vilnius, Lithuania UK – Mr. Martin Watts, Head of the Company Tel.: +447770768935 Lithuania: Mrs Irena Čalkauskienė, Technical Director Tel.: + 370 521 36361 www.stressregress.com (currently under construction)

BCC Corporate & Group Members ARIJUS (www.arijus.lt ) / Transport and Logistic services AVIS Rent a Car & Leasing Company (Litideal, UAB) (www.avis.lt) / Car rental and leasing AVIVA LIETUVA, Joint Stock Limited Life Insurance and Pension Company (www.aviva.lt) / Life insurance and pension funds ĄŽUOLYNO Clinic (www.azuolynoklinika.lt) / The first private clinic in Lithuania for psychological problems, psychiatric disorders, alcohol and drug addiction treatment, long – term nursing. Patients can be consulted or hospitalised Baldai Jums, UAB (www.BaldaiJums.eu) / Solid wood furniture production Baltic American Medical & Surgical Clinic (www.bak.lt )/ Health Care BALTIC SURVEYS (Baltijos Tyrimai, UAB) (www.gallup.com) / Market research BANKSERVIS, UAB (www.bankservis.lt) / Bank and office equipment, security products and solutions

NOVOTEL VILNIUS CENTRE (Hekon, UAB) (www.accor.com) / Hotel services Ober Haus Nekilnojamas Turtas (www.ober-haus.lt )/ All real estate services ODONTIKA (www.odontika.com) / Dental surgery PERITUS SPRENDIMAI (www.peritus.lt) / EU funding, Project Management, Public Procurement, Strategic Research, PPP PUBLICUM, UAB (www.publicum.lt) / Public Relations, Public Affairs, Management consulting and training PZU Lietuva, UAB DK (www.pzu.lt ) / Insurance QUANTUM CAPITAL (www.qcapital.eu ) / Investment banking & strategic advisory boutique Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva (www.radissonblu.com/ lietuvahotel-vilnius)/ Hotel, biggest centre located Conference and Event centre, Riverside restaurant, Skybar, Lobby bar, fitness centre and sauna Radisson Blu Astorija (UAB “AAA Astorija”) (www. radissonblu.com/hotel-vilnius) / Hotel, V & V Restaurant, Astorija Bar, Meetings & Evants center, Catering services NEW! Raidla Lejins & Norcous law offices (www.rln.lt) / Legal services in all fields of business law in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus REGUS (www.regus.lt ) / The world leading provider of pioneering workplace solutions, with a large range of products and services from fully equipped offices to professional meeting rooms, business lounges and the largest network of videoconference studios SCAENT Baltic, JSC (www.scaent.lt) / Investment Enterprise Scandinavian Airlines SAS (www.flysas.lt) / Aviation

Eurocontinental Limited / Textiles UPGRADED! FINREDA, UAB (www.finreda.net) / Corporate services provider. Legal, financial and business consulting & services including translations to Lithuanian and foreign companies 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 Growing Talent (www.growingtalent.eu/) / Providing executive coaching, and delivering training for leadership and talent development UPGRADED! INOVA BALTIC, UAB (www.inovabaltic.com ) / Real estate and private equity investments, property and asset management STRESS REGRESS (www.stressregress.com) / A business partnership dealing with stress issues, including testing, measurement and treatment, and offering advice for a healthier lifestyle including exercise, diet and supplements, among other options. NEW! MICHAEL LITTLE IR KO, UAB (www.mikelittle.lt) / ACCA accountancy tutors REENPRO, UAB (www.reenpro.lt) / We develop and construct Your solar energy park. Turn-key services. Green-field, roof-top, building integrated photovoltaic solutions SMITH GUTTRIDGE & ASSOCIATES (www.smith-guttridge. eu) / Business Psychology & HR Consulting including training/ coaching, career management and team and leadership development Tauragė Industrial Park (www.tip.lt)/ Industrial premises for rent in Southwest Lithuania Vilnius International School (www.vischool.lt) / International Baccalaureate World School. Early childhood education, primary and middle school Vilnius MONTESSORI pre-School (www.vms.lt) / English Language pre-School

BCC Social Members Christian Ranft Geoffrey Cohn Graham Keith

(www.shakespeare.lt) / Boutique hotel, Sonnets restaurant, Globe bar, conference halls

Hugh Miles Thomas OBE, FCA

DPD LiETUVA (www.dpd.lt) / Parcels delivery for business and private customers within Lithuania & EU countries, logistics solutions for business

SIMEON, UAB (www.simeon.lt ) / Transport & Logistics

Jūratė Rusteikaitė – Bakšienė

SORAINEN (www.sorainen.com) / Legal services in all fields of business law in the three Baltic countries and Belarus

Mark Whittle

EFT Lithuania, UAB (www.eft-group.net )/ Electricity Trading Company

Storebrand Baltic , UAB (www.storebrand.com) – Shared service centre for Storebrand ASA in Norway and SPP in Sweden. Financial services within life- and health insurance, banking and asset management Sue’s Indian Raja (www.sues-lt.com) / Indian Restaurant UPGRADED! SWEDSPAN Girių Bizonas (www.swedspan.lt) / Particle board production TARK GRUNTE SUTKIENE, Law Firm (www.tarkgruntesutkiene. com) / full-service commercial law firm with offices in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, mainly focused on providing advice on commercial transactions in the Baltic region and Belarus TRANSCOM Worldwide Vilnius (www.transcom.com) / International provider of outsourced services and solutions in the field of customer contact (client relationship management & credit management). Near shore outsourced services from Lithuania to UK and other European countries ŪKIO BANKAS, AB ( www.ub.lt)/ Banking Ūkio Banko Investicinė Grupė, UAB (www.ubig.lt ) / Investment projects; real estate; banking; life insurance and other financial services; industry, industrial engineering; logistics and sports

EKO RIVI, UAB (www.ekorivi.lt) / Consultancy in municipal and environmental infrastructure EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL (www.euromonitor.com ) / Provider of strategic market research on countries, consumers and industries EVERSHEDS SALADŽIUS (www.evershedssaladzius.lt) / Legal services

FIORENTINO RESTAURANT (Altomondas, UAB) (www.fiorentino.lt) / Restaurant/ Catering Services G4S Lietuva, UAB (www.g4s.lt) / Security Solutions covering cash handling, guarding, electronic security, system maintenance, installation, courier service GrECo JLT Lietuva, UADBB (www.greco.lt ) / Insurance intermediation Grontmij Lietuva, UAB ( www.grontmij-carlbro.lt )/ Engineering consultancy and design projects HALTEX (www.halbro.com)/ Knitting, sewing, embroidery, sportswear production

about your health on first meeting. The more questions you answer, the better we can help you. We treat you seriously, as an individual, and tailor everything to your own personal need, using proven techniques and solutions. Therapy can be provided in our studio, or at your workplace, dependant on room availability, using our professional range of products. We can also sell or lease a choice of items to help with your wellbeing, such as health monitors and therapeutic pain and stress relief machines, detoxification machines, and supply stress dots, and vitamin supplements. All machines used are endorsed with the CE certificate, for use in European Union countries, as your guarantee of safety. We do hope to hear from you, if we can help you with your requirements.

(www.lemeridienvilnius.com) / 5 star Hotel, 8.000m2 Conference Centre, Catering Services, Spa, Fitness Centre, Leisure, PGA design Golf course, Over the water restaurant, Real Estate LawIN (www.lawin.com) / LAWIN is a leading and internationally highest ranked business law firm in the Baltics. Monetu Namai, UAB (www.monetunamai.lt) / Collectable coins and medals MOTIEKA & AUDZEVIČIUS, Law Firm (www.ma-law.lt) / Legal services MIRROR SUPPORT SERVICES, UAB (www.mirroraccounting.lt ) / Accounting services

SHAKESPEARE Boutique Hotel (Olizarų rūmai, UAB)

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT GROUP, UAB (www.fmg.lt) / Accounting, tax consulting, legal advice

Company details: UAB “CSC Baltic” V.Gerulaičio str. 1, ALFA building, 4th floor, LT-08200, Vilnius, Lithuania E-mail: i.bartkiene@csc.com www.csc.com

BCC Small Company Member Stress Regress

Best Western HOTEL VILNIUS (Naujasis Vilnius, UAB) (www.vilniushotel.eu) / Centrally located Hotel, restaurant, conference centre, fitness centre, swimming pool and sauna BITĖ LIETUVA, UAB (www.bite.lt) / Telecommunications

BNTP, UAB (www.bntp.lt) / Private equity investment; real estate development and investment; asset management; project management; facilities management

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals www.gsk.lt

BCC Corporate member CSC Baltic

Antanas Uršulis, Managing Director

HIGHLIFE, UAB / Manufacturing for export timber components for the furniture and construction industries HOTEL VANAGUPĖ (Eskom, UAB) (www.vanagupe.lt) / 5* Hotel, Modern Conference centre and luxury GOLDEN Spa centre, gourmet cuisine restaurant L’Ambra Rossa ISM University of Management and Economics (www.ism.lt) / Higher education NEW! JURIDICON, Law Firm (www.juridicon.com) / Legal services, tax consulting, corporate services, legal project & risk management. Member of Warwick Legal Network. KAUNAS AIRPORT (www.kun.lt ) / Airport KAUNAS FREE ECONOMIC ZONE MANAGEMENT COMPANY (www.ftz.lt ) / Real estate development

VARUL, Law firm (www.varul.com ) / Legal services in all fields of business law in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus Western Union Processing Lithuania UAB (www.westernunion.com) - Financial Services WorldOne (www.worldone.com) / Global healthcare research and highest quality data collection solution. ZABOLIS PARTNERS (www.zabolis.com) / Finance and Real Estate Žemaitijos pienas (www.zpienas.lt/) / Production and sales of milk products NEW!

BCC Small company Members

Dr Helene Ryding

Mervyn Richardson NEW! Nick Viney Richard Wernick Ron Sheppard Serge Gandzumian Sigitas Žutautas

BCC Board 20011-2013 Honorary President David Hunt, HM Ambassador to Lithuania Chairman Chris Butler, PwC Deputy Chairman Mike Little, Michael Little & Ko, UAB Algirdas Pekšys, SORAINEN Field of interest in the board - lobbying Alistair Day-Stirrat, Odontika, Dental Surgery Field of interest in the board - BCC paper Amit Majithia, Cormack Consultancy Baltic Lt Ltd Field of interest in the board - membership Geoffrey Cohn, Private member Field of interest in the board - BCC paper Robertas Juodka, Law Firm VARUL Field of interest in the board - lobbying

KERNAVĖS BAJORYNĖ, Conference and Leisure Centre (www.kernavesbajoryne.lt )/ Conferencies, leisure and other activities

999 Design Group (www.999design.com/) / Branding, Communications, Marketing, Packaging, Event, Digital media, Web Design Agency NEW!

Rimantas Tuskevičius, EKO RIVI, UAB Field of interest in the board - lobbying

KLAIPĖDA FREE ECONOMIC ZONE MANAGEMENT COMPANY (www.fez.lt) / Management and development of Klaipėda Free Economic Zone

BALTIC HOLIDAYS (www.balticholidays.com) / Tour operator in the UK specializing in Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia

Sergejus Fedotovas, Ūkio banko investicinė grupė, UAB Field of interest in the board – membership

KPMG Baltics, UAB (www.kpmg.com/lt ) /Audit, Tax, and Advisory services LAUTUS Holdings, UAB (www.lautus.lt ) / Asset management (mainly, private equity investments) and related strategic business advisory services (incl. insolvency management, legal consulting, fundraising (private placement), CPF LE MERIDIEN VILNIUS & V GOLF CLUB (VILLON, UAB)

BCS International Ltd (www.bcsinternational.net) / The Behaviour Change Specialists, are an international people development organisation, dedicated to the practical use of emotional intelligence to improve individual and team performance. NEW! Celtic Asset Management, UAB / Real estate UPGRADED! DEKONA, Evaldo Darškaus IĮ (www.dekona.lt ) / Management Consulting: Operational efficiency, Lean, Six Sigma, process improvement

Tim Mahon, Deloitte Field of interest in the board - finances Observer Ieva Binkauskaitė, British Embassy, UK Trade and Investment Section

BCC paper Spring 2012