RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/LTU/27
7 September 1998
(98-3393)
Working Party on the
Accession of LithuaniaOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF LITHUANIA
Communication from Lithuania
The Permanent Mission of Lithuania has submitted the following information concerning the
textile, clothing, fur dressing and dyeing, leather and leather articles industries in Lithuania, with the
request that it be circulated to members of the Working Party.
_______________
Information on the textile, clothing, fur dressing and dyeing,
leather and leather articles industries in Lithuania
At the beginning of 1997, there were 119 enterprises in the textile industry (excluding sole
proprietorships), which employed 31.9 thousand people.  Small enterprises, with less than
50 employees, account for 76 per cent of all the enterprises in this industry;  medium enterprises
employing from 50 to 250 people account for 15 per cent, while large enterprises with over
250 employees account for 9 per cent of all the enterprises in the industry.
All such enterprises have been privatised alt hough the State has retained ownership of a small
part of the capital (about 25 per cent) in each.
In 1997, the goods produced and sold by textile factories amounted to 1153.6 million Litas
(4 Litas = US$1).  This accounted for 7.2 per cent of the total sales of mining and quarryingindustries. 71 per cent of the goods manufactured were exported while 29 per cent were sold in the
domestic market.  The articles manufactured and sold by the larger enterprises, which employed
87 per cent of all the labour force of the textile industry, accounted for 86 per cent of the total goods
produced by the entire textile industry.  Sales of the medium enterprises accounted for 11 per cent and
those of the small enterprises for 3 per cent of the total sales.
Compared to 1996, the volume of manufactured goods and sales stayed at the same level.
Information on sales in 1997 compared to those in 1992 are given in Table 1.  Table 2 shows the
quantities of some of the most important articles manufactured.
Raw materials, materials and intermediate goods account for 79.9 per cent of the costs, while
the consumption of fuel and electricity accounts for 11.1 per cent, other costs being 9 per cent.  In
1997, only 9.6 per cent of the textile articles were produced from raw materials supplied by the
clients, in 1996 this figure was slightly higher - 11.5 per cent.
In the first four months of 1998, sales of the textile companies decreased by 1.9 per cent
compared to sales in the respective period of the previous year.WT/ACC/LTU/27
Page 2
At the beginning of 1997, total fixed assets accumulated in the textile industry accounted for
9.6 per cent of the fixed assets in the quarrying and manufacturing industry, fixed assets of the textile
fibre and spinning industry accounted for 46.4 per cent of the total fixed assets of the textile industry,
those of the weaving industry accounted for 26.1 per cent while the fixed assets in the industry ofknitted and crocheted articles made up 23.8 per cent.  The fixed assets of other textile companies
constituted only a small portion of the total assets of the textile industry.
In early 1997, the depreciation coefficient of fixed assets in this manufacturing sector was
46 per cent.
The textile industry is gradually upgrading and modernising its technological lines and
installations.  For this purpose, companies use their own funds as well as direct foreign investments.
As of 1 January 1998, direct foreign investments in the textile industry amounted to 185 million Litas.
In 1997, total investment in light industry stood at 19.7 million Litas.
At the beginning of 1997, the clothes sewing , fur dressing and dyeing industry had
225 companies (excluding sole proprietorships), 79 per cent of them were small companies,
16 per cent medium-size companies and 5 per cent large companies.  The industry employed
31.8 thousand people, 11 per cent of the total labour force of the industry was engaged in small
companies, 21 per cent in medium-size companies, 68 per cent in large companies.
All the companies in this manufacturing sector have been privatised, State capital in each now
accounts for only 15 per cent.
In 1997, the industry produced and sold products for 1,333.2 million Litas.  Compared to
1996, sales of this manufacturing sector went up by 26.2 per cent, small companies accounting for7 per cent, medium-size companies for 12 per cent, and large companies for 81 per cent of the total
sales.
The major part of the articles produced (91 per cent) were exported to other countries,
9 per cent of the output was marketed in the domestic market.  This shows that Lithuania's companies
are capable of manufacturing articles of good quality and a number of them are producing and
delivering articles on orders from Western firms.  Mostly, the companies process materials deliveredby their clients.  Preliminary figures for 1997 indicate that 74.3 per cent of the raw materials and
materials processed came directly from the clients (compared to 60.4 per cent in 1996).  Raw
materials and materials account for 93 per cent of the total costs, fuel and electricity for 2.3 per cent,
other costs account for 4.5 per cent.
In the first four months of 1998, sales of the companies of the clothes sewing, fur dressing
and dyeing industry went up by 21.2 per cent compared to the respective period of the previous year.
At the beginning of 1997, fixed assets in the fur dressing and dyeing industry accounted for
2.1 per cent of the fixed assets of the quarrying and manufacturing industry, fixed assets of theclothing industry accounted for 78.7 per cent of the total assets of this manufacturing sector, those of
the fur dressing, dyeing and fur articles industry accounted for 21.3 per cent.
At the beginning of 1997, the depreciation coefficient of fixed assets in the clothing, fur
dressing and dyeing industry was 29.2 per cent.  The lowest depreciation coefficient was in the leather
clothes sector - 19 per cent;  the depreciation coefficient in the clothes and accessories sector was
26.1 per cent, in the fur dressing and dyeing sector this coefficient was 40.7 per cent.WT/ACC/LTU/27
Page 3
Quite a few clothing companies have sufficiently advanced technology, which enables them
to please even the most choosy customers.
As of 1 January 1998, direct foreign investments in this industry amounted to
51.1 million Litas.  In 1997 alone, investment amounted to 19.8 million Litas.
At the beginning of 1997, the leather and leather articles industry had 38 companies
(excluding sole proprietorships), which employed 8.8 thousand people.  Small companies accounted
for 78 per cent, medium-sized for 13 per cent, large companies accounting for 9 per cent.  All the
companies in this industry have been privatised, the State still retains 15 per cent of the capital in
each.
In 1997, the output and sales of these companies amounted to 277 million Litas.  Compared to
1996, sales have increased by 2.3 per cent.  As in other industries, the major part of the articles sold
were produced by the larger companies (65 per cent).  Medium-sized companies produced 34 per cent
of the articles sold, the small companies as little as 3  per cent.  54 per cent of the output was exported
to other countries, domestic sales accounting for 46 per cent.  Raw material, materials andintermediary articles accounted for 82.4 per cent of the production costs, fuel and electricity  for
5.5 per cent, other costs accounted for 12.1 per cent.
In the first four months of 1998, sales of the leather and leather articles companies fell by
17.9 per cent compared to the respective period of the previous year.
Compared to the fixed assets of the entire quarrying and manufacturing industry, the fixed
assets accumulated by the fur dressing and dyeing industry are rather small, a mere 1.2 per cent.  The
greatest part of the fixed assets is in the footwear industry - 57.8 per cent of the total assets of the
entire fur dressing and dyeing industry.  The hide tanning and processing sector possesses37.7 per cent of the fixed assets, the fixed assets of the manufacturers of articles of saddlery and
harness, suitcases, handbags and similar containers account for 4.5 per cent of the total assets of the
industry.
The depreciation coefficient in this sector is higher, reaching 39.1 per cent.  The greatest
depreciation, 48.1 per cent,  is observed in the hide tanning and processing industry, the depreciation
coefficient in the footwear industry is 33.6 per cent;  in the manufacturing sector of suitcases,handbags and similar containers it is 35.6 per cent.
As of 1 January 1998, direct investment in the leather and leather articles industry stood at
0.8 million Litas.  Investment in 1997 amounted to 8.6 million Litas.
It should be noted that in light industry the upgrading of equipment and technological lines
has long become a priority and a strategic objective.  70 per cent of the equipment was upgraded in
the 1980s by acquisition from Western European countries, Japan and the United States.  This fact,
combined with the rather highly qualified management and expertise, skilled labour and low
production costs, enabled light industry to find more business partners than any other industry and toattract foreign investment for the im provement of production and technology.
In 1997, compared to 1996, foreign trade in articles produced by light industry increased and
this trend has been continuing in 1998.  Information on the volume of exports and imports of goods of
light industry is presented in Table 3.
In 1997, the exports of raw and tanned hides, furs and their articles (Section 8) amounted to
219.8 million Litas, i.e., 6.4 per cent more than in 1996, while imports amounted toWT/ACC/LTU/27
Page 4
180.7 million Litas, which is 4 per cent more than in 1996.  Export of goods of this sector accounted
for 1.4 per cent of total exports, while import accounted for 0.8 per cent of total imports.
In 1997, exports of woven fabrics and textiles (Section 11) amounted to 2,512.7 million Litas,
while imports stood at 1,782.8 million Litas, which accounted for 16.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent oftotal exports and imports respectively.
In 1996, exports of woven fabrics and textiles (Section 11) amounted to 2,097.5 million Litas,
which accounted for 15.6 per cent of the total exports, while imports amounted to
1,438.2 million Litas, which accounted for 7.9 per cent.
Table 1
Indexes on Production Sold By Industry
(1992  100%)
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
Mining, quarrying and
manufacturing industry100 65.3 45.9 46.3 47.9 50.3
Textile industry 100 37.9 25.4 23.5 24.0 24.0
Clothes sewing, fur dressing and
dyeing100 66.9 36.5 43.7 53.8 68.1
Leather and leather articles
industry100 40.1 22.5 22.4 21.4 21.9
Table 2
Main Products of Light Industry
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
Textile industry
Flax fibres (thou tons) 12.7 11.6 9.6 4.6 3.3 4.9 7.3 6.8
Woven fabrics
(mil. sq. m)203.6 204.3 166.9 99.7 81.0 92.2 78.3 104.8
Carpets and carpet articles
(thou. sq. m)6,551 2,739 2,615 2,226 867 286 193 133
Textile articles
(mil. pieces)58.8 54.1 37.1 22.2 16.4 14.1 13.3 17.7
Of them: 17.9 17.3 14.5 10.1 5.3 4.1 4.6 8.5
Tights, socks, sockettes
and other articles(mil. pairs)82.2 81.2 63.3 49.8 42.2 37.0 26.0 28.3
Clothes sewing, fur
dressing and dyeing
Overcoats, raincoats,(thou. pieces)745 854 476 535 309 353 477 475
Jackets (thou. pieces) 880 1,080 1,609 607 354 382 252 309
Suits (thou. pieces) 701 632 392 236 277 244 245 279
Trousers (including
women's) (thou. pieces)2,108 2,112 1,563 1,857 2,341 2,841 3,490 4,742WT/ACC/LTU/27
Page 5
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
Shirts, men's or boy's
(thou. pieces)2,745 2,630 2,144 1,913 1,755 1,863 1,847 1,962
Dresses (thou. pieces) 2,353 2,513 1,269 409 297 521 507 395
Leather and leather
articles industry
Box cals leather(mil. sq. dec.)175.7 179.3 155.1 92.1 106.4 104.4 110.7 132
Foot-wear (without rubbe r
and felt)
(mil. pairs)11.9 11.2 7.7 3.7 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.9
Rubber foot-wear, million
pairs10.6 7.6 3.9 1.6 1.0 0.7 0.6  0.5
Table 3
Export and import of textile, clothing and leather, shoes industry
(thousand Litas)
1996* 1997* 1998 I Q**
Description Exports Imports Exports Imports Exports Imports
41.Raw hides and skins
(other than furskins) and
leather 86,094.2 67,767.3 104,244.8 56,410.6 22,672.1 16,676.0
EU 66,125.0 9,761.3 69,020.6 7,039.1 12,395.1 4,046.5
EFTA 708.4 0.8 317.1 1.3 267.6 -
CIS 7,557.7 38,226.6 20,226.9 28,913.6 5,191.1 10,292.7
Others 11,703.1 19,778.6 14,680.2 20,456.6 4,818.3 2,336.8
42. Articles of leather;saddlery and harness; travelgoods, handbags and similar
containers; articles of
animal gut 5,779.7 16,163.2 13,385.3 32,270.1 4,554.0 6,359.1
EU 797.9 9,872.6 1,196.0 14,971.5 183.2 3,860.7
EFTA 46.9 125.3 13.3  323.4 1.6 213.1
CIS 2,647.7 29.1 11,317.6 52.3 3,986.1 1.0
Others 2,287.2 6,136.2 858.4 16,922.9 383.1  2,284.3
43. Furskins and artificial
fur; manufactures thereof 114,782.8 89,881.2 102,172.9 92,072.8 11,061.5 16,072.8
EU 14,537.8 55,953.2 8,985.3 67,548.7 2,269.8 11,699.6
EFTA 20.1 5,240.0 16.7 2,448.1 - 735.6
CIS 98,059.7 11,323.9 89,290.4 1,977.8 8,617.3 136.9
Others 2,165.2 17,364.1 3,880.5 20,098.2 174.4 3,500.7
Total VIII section 206,656.7 173,811.7 219,803.0 180,753.5 38,287.6 39,107.9
50. Silk 9.8 2,388.9 11.3 4,253.9 - 383.0
EU - 1,105.1 - 1,737.2 - 188.9
EFTA - 23.4 -  - - 5.7
 CIS 9.8 10.6 - - - 184.0WT/ACC/LTU/27
Page 6
1996* 1997* 1998 I Q**
Description Exports Imports Exports Imports Exports Imports
Others - 1,249.8 11.3 2,516.7 - 4.4
51. Wool, fine or coarse
animal hair; horsehair yarn
and woven fabric 69,233.9 166,533.6 84,455.5 187,202.9 21,814.4 43,878.5
EU 14,791.1 123,872.0 30,251.9 148,211.6 15,391.0 33,874.2
EFTA - 358.1 3.3 131.0 1.8 1,195.7
CIS 38,545.2 16,790.8 34,617.4 18,685.8 2,942.9 2,750.5
Others 15,897.6 25,512.7 19,582.9 20,174.5 3,478.7 6,058.1
52. Cotton 148,561.2 240,766.7 177,194.8 282,813.3 44,087.9 83,072.1
EU 68,268.8 88,106.9 125,800.5 150,892.9 29,525.5 41,954.7
EFTA 2,137.8 7,368.2 2,610.8 17,315.2 96.9 9,274.6
CIS 25,084.3 108,000.7 13,814.2 53,701.7 2,275.5 14,274.7
Others 53,070.3 37,290.9 34,969.3 60,903.5 12,190.0 17,568.1
53. Other vegetable textilefibres; paper yarn and
woven fabrics of paper yarn 62,544.9 28,520.8 101,814.2 59,162.9 29,991.9 23,379.2
EU 27,886.9 3,334.5 49,834.3 5,921.4 10,865.2 6,238.8
EFTA 81.6 1.0 195.4 3.3 82.6 -
CIS 8,570.8 20,575.9 8,560.9 376,88.2 1,516.8 11,629.6
Others 26,005.6 4,609.4 43,223.6 155,50.0 17,527.3 5,510.8
54. Man-made filaments 284,367.5 173,615.1 309,076.7 246,884.2 78,854.6 69,042.5
EU 137,678.1 91,871.4 148,721.7 142,147.0 43,823.3 42,086.8
EFTA 163.8 2,206.6 374.7 6,030.9 - 3,694.3
CIS 35,447.7 24,775.2 37,135.1 31,244.5 3,313.9 6,650.8
Others 111,077.9 54,761.9 122,845.2 67,461.8 31,717.4 16,610.6
55. Man-made staple fibres 183,198.0 344,153.3  159,728.7 372,963.0 32,199.4 95,125.6
EU 45,417.7 218,711.2 48,905.3 272,744.9 8,827.7 64,673.4
EFTA 171.6 7,298.0 699.7 4,579.2 - 2,261.3
 CIS 99,872.2 72,705.9 67,134.7 60,379.3 9,206.4 18,985.1
Others 37,736.5 45,438.2 42,989.0 35,259.6 14,165.3 9,205.8
56. Wadding, felt and non-
woven; special yarns; twine,
cordage, ropes and cablesand articles thereof 29,828.7 35,519.3 46,928.5 57,959.5 13,914.1 13,172.7
EU 3,634.5 23,553.2 2,585.8 40,583.6 1,383.6 8,748.0
EFTA 19.4 157.8 3,586.6 545.3 2,096.4 26.2
CIS 21,397.1 3,271.4 30,594.7 4,623.1  7,621.0 385.4
 Others 4,777.7 8,536.9 10,161.4 12,207.5 2,813.1 4,013.1
57. Carpets and other textilefloor coverings 8,385.7 18,349.2 7,378.1 26,800.4 1,218.2 8,448.5
EU 131.3 15,649.8 174.1 23,108.2 0.2 7,810.1
EFTA 3.3 85.3 7.2 16.0 - 1.1
CIS 6,772.8 364.2 5,343.0 212.0 619.3 2.3
Others 1,478.3 2,249.9 1,853.8 3,464.2 598.7 635.0
58. Special woven fabrics;
tufted textile fabrics; lace;
tapestries; trimmings;
embroidery 7,438.6 32,333.9 7,680.7 47,244.1 2,119.0 9,804.2WT/ACC/LTU/27
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1996* 1997* 1998 I Q**
Description Exports Imports Exports Imports Exports Imports
EU 252.9 27,713.9 375.8 42,688.0 88.7 8,487.9
EFTA - 338.2 25.4 368.9 - 86.2
CIS 5,665.1 463.6 4,311.3 34.7 882.3 19.3
Others 1,520.6 3,818.2 2,968.2 4,152.5 1,148.0 1,210.8
59. Impregnated, coated,
covered or laminated textile
fabrics; textile articles of a
kind suitable for industrial
use 30,573.5 51,822.1 37,764.5 71,331.0 8,243.9 18,335.1
EU 292.2 26,172.9 3,191.3 42,028.4 883.6 12,065.0
EFTA 6.2 822.6 2.8 819.7 7.9 39.9
CIS 25,221.4 4,316.6 26,561.7 3,170.8 4,240.7 477.5
Others 5,053.7 20,510.0 8,008.7 25,312.1 3,111.7 5,752.7
60. Knitted or crocheted
fabrics 18,930.3 76,258.6 28,170.5 102,311.3 8,673.3 27,726.4
EU 1,580.3 64,031.9 1,728.0 75,879.5 1,087.6 18,926.6
EFTA 71.7 2,634.1 484.9 1,749.1 32.0 660.7
CIS 12,967.4 320.3 19,110.7 529.2 4,308.0 177.8
Others 4,310.9 9,272.3 6,846.9 24,152.9 3,245.7 7,961.3
61. Articles of apparel andclothing accessories, knittedor crocheted 374,803.5 77,578.3 441,294.8 98,252.1 124,723.5 23,813.2
EU 292,196.5 67,631.3 320,993.1 78,568.2 86,160.8 19,212.0
EFTA 3,167.6 356.5 7,886.1 771.0 1,884.8 131.2
CIS 70,111.4 676.4 100,747.3 1,668.9 26,879.9 81.8
Others 9,328.0 8,914.1 11,668.3 17,244.0 9,798.0 4,388.2
62. Articles of apparel andclothing accessories, notknitted or crocheted 772,675.5 90,355.9 994,956.6 124,543.4 290,442.7 31,459.2
EU 690,177.0 60,161.0 893,807.9 75,054.7 262,956.3 18,584.5
EFTA 16,023.3 1,334.2 19,316.8 1,459.4 4,543.9 200.8
CIS 24,028.7 2,399.9 33,622.5 2,441.8 7,854.3 443.4
Others 42,446.5 26,460.8 48,209.4 45,587.5 15,088.2 12,230.5
63. Other made-up textilearticles; sets; worn clothing
and worn textile articles;
rags 106,949.6 100,044.0 116,219.0 101,121.5 27,141.2 29,052.5
EU 66,568.8 80,035.2 77,636.3 88,418.8 16,458.0 23,551.5
EFTA 11,965.9 529.7 11,377.2 589.1 1,971.8 248.9
CIS 22,363.1 9,552.9 20,302.7 1,255.5 5,059.6 1,068.2
Others 6,051.8 9,926.2 6,902.8 10,858.1 3,651.8 4,183.9
Total XI section 2,097,500.71,438,239.72.512,673.91,782,843.5 683,424.1 476,692.7
64. Footwear, gaiters andthe like; parts of sucharticles 101,758.5 67,904.8 92,323.5 91,552.6 16,101.1 27,636.6
EU 42,812.5 37,758.4 60,561.6 57,627.9 12,834.2 17,804.6
EFTA 2,070.6 114.5 49.9 314.6 - 197.4WT/ACC/LTU/27
Page 8
1996* 1997* 1998 I Q**
Description Exports Imports Exports Imports Exports Imports
CIS 35,762.9 1,835.3 21,578.0 1,617.8 2,053.9 483.1
Others 21,112.5  28,196.6 10,134.0 31,992.3 1,213.0 9,151.5
65. Headgear and parts
thereof 4,075.4 1,531.6 2,179.7 2,622.6 482.3 820.9
EU 1,016.1 1,038.2 1,298.0 1,456.1 323.1 321.9
EFTA 85.0 11.6 13.3 32.1 3.6 12.9
CIS 2,812.7 78.7 778.2 26.0 146.1 3.5
Others 161.6 403.1 90.2 1,108.4 9.5 482.6
Total light industry 2,409,991.31,681,487.82,826,980.12,057,772.2 738,295.1 544,258.1
* Data of Statistics Department
** Data of Customs Department
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