PANEVEZYS COUNTY - Economy
Panevezys County is a region of well-developed industry and agriculture. Over 7% of the Lithuanian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is created here. 130 industrial companies have over 17 000 employees. Over 60% of the County output is produced in the City of Panevezys.
Exports make up about 60%. Panevezys County has the following leading companies: AB "Ekranas"- a producer of colour TV picture tubes, AB "Rokiškio suris" - the largest dairy company, AB “Kalnapilio-Tauro Grupe” – a brewery, UAB “Ochoco Lumber” – a lumber processing company, AB “Panevezio Statybos Trestas” – a construction company and AB “Levuo” – a trading company.
Over 130 joint ventures of 30 foreign countries are successfully operating in Panevezys County. 21 joint ventures with Germany, 16 - with Russia, 11 - with the USA, 10 - with Sweden, 10- with Poland, 9 - with Ireland.
The largest investors are Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the USA, Ireland and Denmark. Panevezys County is the fourth largest one in Lithuania regarding the amount of foreign investment. Vilnius, Klaipeda and Kaunas Counties attract more foreign investors. At the beginning of 2002 direct foreign investment in Panevezys County was over 130 million Euros. In 2002 Panevezys County accounted for 459.8 m. Lt. (133 m. €) or 1550 Lt (450€) per inhabitant, representing 3.5% of all direct foreign investment of Lithuania.
The majority of foreign capital was invested in the processing industry, textiles, lumber production, sugar and foodstuff production, wholesale, retail and communication services.
AB “Danisco Sugar Panevezys”, AB “Kalnapilio-Tauro Grupe”, AB “Ekranas” and UAB “Ochoco Lumber” attracted the majority of the County investment in 2002.
Agriculture is one of the most developed fields of Panevezys County. In 2002 agricultural land comprised 482149 ha area or 61% of the total area of Panevezys County. 88% is arable land where crops are grown.
Panevezys county has one of the largest number of farms and the average farm size of the Lithuanian counties. 5534 farms (the average area of 16.4 ha) are registered. Over 20% of Lithuania's grain, 11% of sugar beets are cultivated, 16% of cattle and 10% of poultry are bread, and 20% of milk is sold in the region.
The non-profit Public Enterprise "Tatulos programa" is active in the County promoting organic and sustainable farming. The program encompasses the Karst phenomenal area of Northern Lithuania and has 201 members - 183 farmers (61 have certificates of ecological farms), 14 product processing companies (3 have certificates of ecological processing), 3 agricultural companies, and 1 co-operative and vegetable sales club.
112 ecological farms or farms of transitory period were registered in 2002.
Panevezys County has an international Via Baltica highway connecting Europe with the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. International highway E272 connects Panevezys with the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Belaruss border control offices and Klaipeda port, the coastal centre, the health resorts of Neringa, Palanga and
Šiauliai, and the Northern regional centre.
Panevezys County has 224 state car roadways with a total length of 2 508.1 kilometres of front. The number of private passenger cars per 1 000 population in 2001 was close to the national average with 296 cars per 1 000 population.
Border control offices of Salociai and Obeliai are of great importance for the region. Freight forwarding is more intensive at Kalvarijos and Salociai customs offices. The importance of the Via Baltica transport corridor is increasing. The annual freight capacity is currently 2 920 thousand tons.
Railway lines crossing the districts of Panevezys, Kupiškis and Rokiškis connect Panevezys County with the Kaliningrad region ( Russian Federation ), Daugavpils ( Latvia ) and Moscow ( Russian Federation ). The narrow gauge railway “Panevezys – Rubikiai” is applicable for tourism.
One can easily and quickly reach the nearest airports of the County: Vilnius -140 km, Kaunas - 120 km, Palanga - 240 km, Ryga (Latvia)- 150 km.
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