“What we are hearing so far is that only business will pay for it. Businesses have said from the very beginning that we are ready to pay for it. But the flip side is that if those taxes become of such an extent that some businesses start thinking about other jurisdictions, then we will lose out twice,” Andrius Romanovskis, president of the LVK, told Žinių radijas on Monday.
He also pointed out that the “4 procentai” initiative, which promotes the allocation of 4% of the gross domestic product (GDP) to defence, has been backed not only by businesses but also by some 50,000 citizens.
“This kind of hesitation is felt. I would say objectively that the discussion on GPM and VAT is over before it has even started,” he argued, adding that reluctance to borrow for defence, with the low government debt level, was also "strange".
In March, a number of businesses and organisations announced they had set up a “4 procentai” initiative to mobilise the public and encourage politicians to agree on 4% of GDP for defence as soon as possible.
The founders of the initiative ؘ– Unicorns Lithuania, Lithuanian Business Confederation (LVK) and Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (LPK) – invited all citizens, “who are not indifferent to Lithuania’s security,” to sign a petition.
The motion has been signed by around 51.6 thousand people, the organisers say.
“The initiative collected over 50 thousand qualified signatures in just 23 days. It is a record achievement over such a period. The petition was sent to the authorities responsible this morning,” Mantas Mikuckas, board chairman of the “4 procentai”, told a press conference on Monday.
Defence spending is expected to account for 2.75% of Lithuania’s GDP this year. The country aims to reach at least 3% in the coming year.