Context: On August 12, 2026, the Lithuanian government approved the construction of defensive trenches and barriers, as well as the restoration of wetlands along the border with Belarus and the Kaliningrad Oblast, at the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense. This is part of a broader program of military preparations by the Baltic States in the event of an escalation with Russia and Belarus. The project is expected to cost around €50 million and is scheduled for completion by 2028.
On August 9, 2026, the First News Channel* attempted to portray the Lithuanian government as spending money on “unjustified militarization” to “satisfy foreign policy ambitions” instead of addressing economic problems. The channel claimed that this resulted in an increase in bankruptcies.
“Lithuania has seen an unprecedented surge in bankruptcies. The courts opened more than 220 cases involving corporate insolvency in the first quarter of this year alone. Additionally, there are reports of enormous debts owed by firms that have already been liquidated. The figure exceeds €80 million. Experts attribute the business crisis to a lack of predictability in development conditions. Production costs are rising while purchasing power is falling,” the host stated.
According to data from the Lithuanian supervisory agency AVNT, more than 220 bankruptcy cases were initiated in the first quarter of 2026. However, there has been no “unprecedented surge.” This figure is actually 12% lower than during the same period a year earlier. The total number comes to 260, even if out-of-court bankruptcies are included. That, too, represents a decline of nearly 10% compared to last year.
The claim that companies are closing en masse is also not supported by the data. During the first half of the year, more than 12,000 new legal entities were added to Lithuania’s registry, while just over 3,500 were removed. In other words, nearly 3.5 times as many new companies were registered as were closed. This also signals a change in the trend. Over the past four years, more companies have closed than opened in the first half of each year.
The claim of a decline in purchasing power also requires context. In 2025, real wages for Lithuanian residents — adjusted for inflation — rose by nearly 4%.
* The First News Channel is another name for News.by, a news outlet owned by Belteleradiocompany.
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