EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, 18.1.2010 
SEC(2010)21 final 
  
COMMUNICATION TO THE COMMISSION 
on application EGF/2009/017 LT/Construction of buildings  
received from Lithuania for a financial contribution from the 
European Globalisation Adjustment Fund 
 
EN 2   EN COMMUNICATION TO THE COMMISSION 
on application EGF/2009/017 LT/Construction of buildings  
received from Lithuania for a financial contribution from the 
European Globalisation Adjustment Fund 
Lithuania  submitted application EGF/2009/017 LT/Constr uction of buildings for a financial 
contribution from the European Globa lisation Adjustment Fund (hereinafter  'EGF'), following 
redundancies in the NACE Revision 21 Division 41 (construction of buildings) in the NUTS II 
region of Lithuania (LT00).  
1. The application was received by the Commi ssion from the Lithuanian authorities on 
23 September 2009. 
2. The application meets the conditions for depl oying the EGF as set out in Article 2(b) 
of Regulation (EC) No 1927/ 2006 of the European Parliame nt and of the Council of 
20 December 2006 on establishing the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund2, 
and was submitted within the deadline of 10 weeks referred to in Article 5 of that Regulation.  
SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATIONS, AND ANALYSIS 
(a) Analysis of the link between the redundancies and ma jor structural changes in 
world trade patterns or the financial and economic crisis  
3. The application relates to 1 612 redundancie s in the buildings construction industry 
during the reference period of nine m onths between 16 October 2008 and 15 July 
2009.  
4. In order to establish th e link between the redundancies and the financial and 
economic crisis, Lithuania argues that the global economic and financial crisis has 
had a serious impact on construction dema nd and activity in Lithuania, as well as 
severely reducing the industry's access to financial credits. As a result, the volume of construction activity in Lithuania has decreased in each of the quarters of the reference period specified in point 3 compar ed with the previous quarter: 2008 Q4 by 
9.20 %; 2009 Q1 by 42.81 %; and 2009 Q2 by 48.04 %, with the redundancies as a 
consequence. The slow-down in constructi on activity in Lithuania in 2009 Q1 was 
the worst in any of the EU-27 Member States. 
The slow-down in construction activity in Lithuania is not expected to reverse until 
after the country has emerged from recession.   These steep drops in construction activity ar e consistent with trends seen elsewhere 
                                                
 
1 Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of  the European Parliament and of  the Council of 20 December 2006 
establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE 2 Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC regulations on specific statistical domains 
(OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 
2 OJ L 48, 22.2.2008, p.82 
 
EN 3   EN in the EU, where the industry has suffere d declines of 2.9 % in 2008 and 11.5% in 
2009 Q1 compared with the corresponding periods of the previous year3. 
5. In conclusion, the opinion of the Commissi on services is that the 1 612 redundancies 
in the buildings construction industry can be  linked, as required by Articles 1 and 2 
of Regulation (EC) 1927/2006, to the financia l and economic crisis, which has led to 
a sharp reduction in construc tion activity in Lithuania. 
(b) Demonstration of the number of redundanc ies and compliance with the criteria of 
Article 2(b)  
6. Lithuania submitted the applica tion under the intervention crit erion of Article 2(b) of 
Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, which require s at least 500 redundancies to occur 
within a nine-month period of reference in  a NACE 2 division in one region or two 
contiguous regions at NUTS II level.  
7. The application demonstrates 1 612 redunda ncies in 128 enterprises, all operating 
within the NACE Revision 2 Division 41 (construction of buildings) during the 
period between 16 October 2008 and 15 July 2009. All of these redundancies were 
calculated in accordance with the second i ndent of paragraph 2 of Article 2 of 
Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006, i.e. from the date of the de facto  termination of the 
contract of employment  before its expiry.  
8. The entire territory of Lithuania form s a single region at NUTS II level (LT00). 
9. It is the opinion of the Commission services that the total number of 1 612 job losses 
in the NACE Revision 2 Division 41 (constr uction of buildings) in Lithuania during 
the reference period meet the criteria of  Article 2(b) of Regulation (EC) No 
1927/2006. 
(c) Explanation of the unfores een nature of those redundancies  
10. The speed and depth of the global economic crisis were not foreseen by either firms 
or governments. The nature of the recession  as far as the cons truction sector was 
concerned, with a sudden tig htening of financial credit and a rapid slowdown in new 
orders was unprecedented in recent times. The redundancies in the construction industry could not, therefore, have been foreseen or easily prevented. 
(d) Identification of the dismissing enterp rises, suppliers or downstream producers, 
sectors, and the categories of workers to be targeted  
11. The application EGF/2009/017 LT/Constructio n of buildings concerns a total of 
1 612  redundancies in the fo llowing 128 enterprises: 
UAB Alytaus statybos grup ė 8 UAB VDE Statyba 14 
UAB Pusin ė troba 18 UAB Statyb ų laukas 4 
UAB Alsva 62 UAB Statyb ų trikampis 1 
Renato Jankeviciaus individuali įmonė 1 UAB Piniava 4 
UAB Sarinos b ūstas 32 UAB Kopta 8 
                                                 
3 Impact of the economic crisis on key sectors of the EU – the case of the manufacturing and construction 
industries, June 2009 Update. Published by DG Enterprise and Industry, 29 June 2009.. 
 
EN 4   EN UAB Virgeda 14 UAB Genestas 8 
UAB Plesta 18 UAB S&R Building 5 
UAB GPI statyba 54 UAB Lista 24 
UAB Arkunas 21 UAB Vilmestos statyba 38 
UAB Stasoma 45 UAB Linasta 3 
UAB Vigysta 14 UAB Meliovesta 20 
UAB Ariogalos statybin ės konstrukcijos 9 UAB Statekas 28 
UAB TK sprendimai 4 UAB Kruonio hidroakumuliacin ės elektrinės statyba 7 
UAB Betonsta 4 UAB Ukmerg ės statyba 14 
UAB Ampresta  13 UAB Degela 1 
UAB Ranguva 3 UAB Didlaukis 3 
UAB Mitnija 6 UAB Ravsta 16 
UAB Skrobline 38 UAB Balt ų Statyba 3 
UAB Elsmika 10 AB BSA Construction 2 
UAB Mano biuras 3 AB Kasyba 59 
UAB Gertauta 5 II Dinatos statyba 14 
UAB Daliktos statyba 3 UAB Amasta 1 
UAB Litgelis 1 UAB Andovos Statyba 9 
UAB Res digna 46 UAB Arkadis 3 
UAB Monolitinis karkasas 21 UAB Art & Go Investment 1 
UAB Naujoji statyba 18 UAB Darvilda 11 
UAB Medga 11 UAB Eikos Statyba 4 
UAB Vanesos statyba 8 UAB Gerika 3 
UAB Vikstada 22 UAB Kantus 32 
UAB Statyb ų projektai 3 UAB Kaupasta 4 
UAB Kauno statybos trestas 26 UAB Kerma 7 
UAB Jungtin ės vykdytoj ų pajegos 8 UAB Litosta 14 
UAB Baltasta 7 UAB LK Investicijos 2 
UAB Elstart 6 UAB Mažoji Statyba 10 
UAB Tesid ė 1 UAB Merko Statyba 17 
UAB Argedestos statyba 1 UAB Mividarsta 12 
UAB Novacity 6 UAB Muruva 6 
UAB Tomstata 1 UAB Neo domus 6 
UAB Ralsta 2 UAB Progresyvios Inzinerin ės Sistemos 1 
UAB Laisv ės parkas 1 UAB Ramunstata 4 
AB Gargžd ų statyba 37 UAB RexRangas 1 
UAB Baltijos projektai 22 UAB Rolgesa 2 
UAB Crepidoma 4 UAB R ūmas 6 
UAB Elektrovista 18 UAB Rumsta 27 
UAB Elitija 3 UAB Sine Modum 1 
UAB ELK statyba 2 UAB Statyb ų rojus 1 
UAB Genra 2 UAB Tauneris 13 
UAB Kresta 5 UAB Tavastis 2 
UAB Litnomus 2 UAB Telktis 3 
UAB Neto 2 UAB Tofista 3 
UAB Optimalus statybos sprend imai 21 UAB Vilniaus akmuo 33 
UAB Veikmanda 1 UAB Vilniaus meistrai 3 
UAB Zegre 2 UAB Andaima 49 
UAB Žigija 5 UAB Stamela  20 
UAB Autofurgonas 2 AB Narunas 6 
UAB Daista 1 UAB Uzven čio statybos trestas 8 
UAB Pamario kiras 12 UAB Jonapol ė 36 
UAB Stakreta 58 UAB Konig 1 
 
EN 5   EN UAB Gerbustas 2 UAB Altesta 1 
UAB Šilna 135 UAB Apdailos grupe 1 
UAB Senlaukis 32 II Edmesta 2 
UAB Vidstaka 2 UAB Druskininku statyba 6 
UAB Algirsta 6 UAB Gintarine statyba 5 
UAB Statybos gaire 4 UAB Statyba ir priežiura 5 
 
12. Of the 1 612 dismissals, 806 are targeted fo r assistance. Of thes e 87 % are male and 
13 % are female. 79 % belong to the 25 to 54 years age group, 14 % belong to the 55 
to 64 years age group, and 7 % belong to the below 25 years age group. None are 
over 65 years of age. In  terms of categories4, 84 (10 % of those targeted for 
assistance) workers belong to the category 'manager'; 62 (7.7 %) belong to the category 'professionals'; 16 (2 %) to the category 'technicians and associate professionals'; 29 (3.6 %) belong to the category 'clerks'; 3 (>1 %) belong to the category 'service workers and shop and market  sales workers'; 3 (>1 %) belong to the 
category 'skilled agricultural and fishery wo rkers'; 452 (56.1 %) to the category 'craft 
and related trades workers'; 29 (3.6 %) to the category 'plant and machine operators 
and assemblers'; and 128 (15.9 %) to the category 'elementary occupations'. 86 of the workers targeted for assistance have a long- standing health problem or disability. All 
of the redundant workers and all of th e targeted workers are EU citizens. 
(e) Description of the territories concer ned and their authoriti es and stakeholders
 
13. The entire territory of Lithuania is affect ed by the redundancies  in the construction 
industry. 
The main stakeholders include the Lithua nian Labour Exchange , the district and 
county labour exchanges, the municipa lities, the employers and employees 
organisations, training centres, the Chambe r of Commerce, and the Lithuanian state 
social insurance board and labour inspectorate. 
(f) Expected impact of the redundancies as regards local, regional or national 
employment  
14. Unemployment in Lithuania is amongst the highest in the EU, and has risen sharply 
since the start of the economic and financ ial crisis, reaching 16.7 % in July 2009. 
The increase in unemployment over the peri od July 2008 – July  2009 in Lithuania 
was 10.9 %, the highest in the EU.   The construction industry has been especia lly badly affected, losing around 10 % of 
its jobs in Lithuania in 2008 alone. Alt hough there have been signs of a recent 
improvement in the job situ ation in the building indus try, statistics from the 
Lithuanian Labour Exchange continue to show  that there were almost four times as 
many construction industry workers unemployed in 2009 Q2 than there were vacancies in the industry. 
                                                
 
4 According to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) ISCO-08 classification of 
the ILO adopted in December 2007. 
 
EN 6   EN 15. In conclusion, in such circumstances, th e redundancies can be seen to have a 
negative effect on th e national and local economies described. 
(g) Co-ordinated pack age of personalised se rvices to be funded and a breakdown of 
its estimated costs, including its comp lementarity with act ions funded by the 
Structural Funds  
16. The proposed package of personalised measures outlined in the application 
comprises ten distinct actions, in addition to  the technical assistance necessary for the 
implementation of the package. The ten actions, which combine to form a co-
ordinated package of personalised services aimed at re-integrating workers into the 
labour market, are: 
– Training and retraining  will be provided for worker s whose skills are not in 
demand in the local labour market. Such training will be focussed on providing these workers with skills for which there is a demand. The actions will last for an 
average of five months, and it is estimated  that 200 workers will benefit from this 
measure. 
– Outplacement assistance
, through the form of supported employment according to 
the national law on support of employment,  will be offered in three different 
formats:  
(a) For those workers who are particularly  disadvantaged, have dependent children 
under the age of 8, or are over 50 years of age, employment subsidies will be 
provided to stimulate them to remain in or return to the labour market. It is 
estimated that 120 workers will benefit from  this action, which will last between 6 
and 12 months.  (b) Support will be provided for the acqui sition of professional skills to 40 
workers. This will allow them to acquire new skills directly in the workplace. (c) For those without skills but who are at risk of exclusion from the labour 
market, special time-limited public work employment will be provided for a maximum of 6 months in order to avoi d demoralisation and demotivation. It is 
estimated that 150 workers will be nefit from this latter action. 
– Training allowances
 will be paid to redundant work ers participating in training 
and retraining (as described above). An  additional allowance will enable the 
workers to travel to and from such tr aining. 200 workers will benefit from this 
support, which is estimated to last an average of 5 months.  
– Entrepreneurship promotion  – two similar measures, differing mainly in their 
intensity, will be aimed at redundant work ers setting up their own businesses.  
In both the workers will be eligible to receive compensation for training or counselling relating to business start-up or business organisation, compensation 
for the costs involved in re gistration of self-employment, health and social, 
insurance costs, and the costs of mach inery, equipment and instruments required 
for the workplace.  In the first measure, under national rules the total support for entrepreneurship 
may not exceed 15 times the minimum mont hly salary. It is estimated that 100 
workers will benefit from this action.  It is estimated that an additional 50 workers will benefit from a more intense 
 
EN 7   EN entrepreneurship promotion measure ba sed upon the national law on the support 
of employment. The ceiling for assistance is higher. 
– Mobility allowances  – in order to facilitate ge ographic mobility, and to allow 
redundant workers to seek new employme nt outside the areas in which they 
currently live, this measur e will support the travel co sts of an estimated 10 
workers for a maximum of three months. 
– Employment incentives  – to encourage redundant workers to accept new 
employment as quickly as  possible, a bonus equal to  three times the minimum 
salary may be paid to workers who accept a permanent or a temporary contract with a minimum duration of 6 months, with in 2 months of registering with the 
local labour exchange. Is is estimated that 40 workers will benefit from this 
measure. 
– Temporary financial aid
, aimed at motivating redundant  workers to accept a new 
job at a lower wage rate th an their previous job, will  be paid to workers who 
accept a new job under a contract of not less than six months (the contract can be 
either temporary or permanent). It is es timated that 40 workers will benefit from 
this action. 
– Job-search allowances  – redundant workers involved in  active job sear ch activities 
will be eligible for a time-limited support equivalent to 15 % of the Lithuanian 
minimum salary for a period of up to th ree months. It is estimated that 650 
workers will benefit from this action. 
– Support for child-care and care of  disabled family members  – in order to facilitate 
the reintegration of redundant workers with  dependent children (up to 8 years of 
age) or disabled family members with sp ecial care needs, an additional allowance 
will be paid for a maximum period of three months in order to cover the additional 
costs that the workers will face in order to  avail of training or other actions. It is 
estimated that 15 workers will benefit from this action.  An additional 5 workers will benefit from an allowance to cover the costs of dependent children (up to 8 ye ars of age) or disabled fa mily members with special 
care needs, for a maximum of 6 mont hs after taking up new employment. 
– Support for improving qualifications
 – this measure will specifically target 25 
higher educated redundant workers to ac quire new competencies in order to 
facilitate their reintegrat ion into the labour market. 
17. The administrative expenditure, as describe d in the application, in accordance with 
Article 3 of Regulation (EC)  No 1927/2006, covers the preparation, management and 
control activities of the application as well as information and publicity.  
18. The personalised services as part of th e co-ordinated packages presented by the 
Lithuanian authorities in th e application are active labour  market measures that fall 
within the eligible actions as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006. 
The total costs of these services are es timated by the Lithuanian authorities at 
EUR 1 609 485 and the administrative expe nditure at EUR 111 889 (= 6.5 % of the 
 
EN 8   EN total amount). The total requested cont ribution from the EGF is EUR 1 118 893  
(65 % of the total costs).  
Actions Estimated 
Number of 
workers targeted Estimated cost 
per worker 
targeted (in 
EUR) Total costs 
(EGF and 
national co 
financing) (in 
EUR) 
Personalised services (first paragraph of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006)  
Training and retraining 200 870 174 000
Outplacement assistance 310 992 307 400
Training allowances 200 900 180 000
Entrepreneurship promotion (basic) 100 3 475 347 500
Entrepreneurship promotion (intensive) 50 8 690 434 500
Mobility allowances 10 210 2 100
Employment incentives 40 690 27 600
Temporary Financial Aid 40 690 27 600
Job-search allowances 650 100 65 000
Support for care of children and disabled 
family members (during training) 15 139 2 085
Support for care of children and disabled 
family members (while in employment) 5 1 390 6 950
Support for improving qualifications 25 1 390 34 750
Subtotal personalised services   1 609 485
Technical assistance for implementing EGF  (third paragraph of Article 3 of Regulation 
(EC) No 1927/2006) 
Preparatory   12 000
Management   91 989
Information and publicity   3 500
Control activities   4 400
Subtotal administra tive expenditure   111 889
TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS    1 721 374
EGF contribution (65 % of total costs)   1 118 893
 
EN 9   EN  
19. As regards the complementarity with act ions funded by the Structural Funds, 
Lithuania confirms that the measures de scribed above are complementary. The EGF 
assistance will be directly targeted at  mitigating the consequences of mass 
redundancies associated with the effects of gl obalisation, while support from the 
European Social Fund (ESF) is program med and used to finance active labour 
market policy measures planned over the 2007-2013 programming period. The ESF 
support is multi-annual and unsuited to respond quickly to unexpect ed shocks in the 
labour market, unlike the EGF.  
(h) Date(s) on which the personalised services to the affected workers were started or 
are planned to start  
20. Personalised services to the affected work ers included in the co-ordinated packages 
proposed for co-financing thr ough the EGF were started by Lithuania on 1 October 
2009. 
This date therefore represents the beginni ng of the period of eligibility for any 
assistance under the EGF (first paragraph of  Article 11, first paragraph of Regulation 
(EC) No 1927/2006). 
(i) Procedures followed for c onsulting the social partners  
21. The Lithuanian authorities confirmed that the package of measures has been 
designed in full consensus with the social pa rtners and that all measures included in 
the package were supported by the social partners. 
22. The Lithuanian authorities confirmed that the requirements laid down in national and 
EU legislation concerning collective redundancies have been complied with. 
(j) Information on actions that are mandatory  by virtue of nationa l law or pursuant to 
collective agreements  
23. As regards the fulfilment of the criteria set out in Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 
1927/2006, the application provided the following elements: 
• The Lithuanian authorities confirmed that  the financial contri bution from the EGF 
does not replace measures which are the res ponsibility of companies by virtue of 
national law or collective agreements. 
• The Lithuanian authorities demonstrated  that the actions provide support for 
individual workers and are not  to be used for restructur ing companies or sectors. 
• The Lithuanian authorities confirmed that  the eligible action s referred to under 
points 16 to 18 above do not receive assistance from other EU financial 
instruments. 
24. (k) Management and control systems  
Lithuania has notified the Commission that  the financial contributions will be 
managed and controlled by the same authoriti es and bodies charged with the delivery 
 
EN 10   EN and oversight of European Social Fund (ESF), and specifically EQUAL Community 
Initiative, funding in Lithuania. The management authority will however deviate from this arrangement, as the Lithuanian  Labour Exchange, under the Ministry of 
Social Security and Labour, which did no t carry out this ro le under the EQUAL 
Community Initiative, has been designated for this role.  
(l) Conclusion
 
25. In conclusion, for the reas ons set out above, it is pr oposed to accept application 
EGF/2009/017 LT/Construction of bu ildings submitted by Lithuania,  relating to the 
redundancies in the buildings construction industry,  as evidence of a direct and 
demonstrable link has been provided that  these redundancies resu lt from the global 
economic and financial crisis. A co-ordinated package of eligible personalised services has been proposed. Therefore,  it is proposed to mobilise the EGF in 
response to the application from Lithuania. 
FINANCING 
• The total annual budget available for the EGF is  EUR 500 million. So far, eight cases have 
been accepted for funding in 2009, and a further three cases have been proposed to the 
budgetary authority, amounting to a total of EUR 53 039 047. 
• Article 12 (6) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 stat es that on 1 September of each year, at 
least EUR 125 million should remain available in  order to cover any needs arising until the 
end of the year. 
• After deduction of the amounts already accepted and already proposed for commitment, an 
amount of EUR 446 960 953 remains available. It is proposed to deploy EUR 1 118 893 
from the EGF for application EGF/20 09/017 LT/Construction of buildings. 
THE COMMISSION IS THEREFORE INVITED TO: 
– conclude that the c onditions for a financia l contribution from the EGF to application 
EGF/2009/017 LT/Construction of buildi ngs submitted by Lithuania are met; 
– submit to the budgetary authority a proposal to  authorise appropriatio ns corresponding to 
EUR 1 118 893  as specified in point 18 as well as a request for the transfer of this amount 
in commitment appropriations to budget li ne 04.0501 (European Globa lisation Adjustment 
Fund) in accordance with Article 12 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006; 
– authorise the transfer of an identical amount in paymen t appropriations from budget line 
04.0217 (European Social Fund (ESF) - conve rgence) to budget line 04.0501 (European 
Globalisation Adjustment Fund).