================================================================================ LITHUANIA FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE ACT Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, 2024-2028 Term, 2026 Session Prepared by Imran Cooper, The Amanuensis May 2026 VERIFICATION NOTES: LITHUANIA FISCAL AND PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK (verified 2025-2026): - Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika): population approximately 2.87 million (Lietuvos statistikos departamentas / Statistics Lithuania, 2025); EU member since 1 May 2004; eurozone member since 1 January 2015; NATO member since 29 March 2004; 60 municipal-level local governments (savivaldybės). - Currency: Euro (€). - Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas): unicameral parliament, 141 members. The 2024-2028 Seimas was elected 13 and 27 October 2024; the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) won 52 seats as the largest party, forming an 86-seat coalition with the Dawn of Nemunas (Nemuno aušra) and the Democratic Union "For Lithuania" (Demokratų sąjunga "Vardan Lietuvos", DSVL). - Constitution: Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija (the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, adopted by referendum 25 October 1992). - Naujos kartos Lietuva (New Generation Lithuania): the Lithuanian Recovery and Resilience Plan under the EU NextGenerationEU / Recovery and Resilience Facility. **Total €3.85 billion** allocation: €2.3 billion in grants and €1.55 billion in loans per the October 2023 European Commission-approved revised plan (cpva.lt; reforms-investments.ec.europa.eu country-pages Lithuania; finmin.lrv.lt). 208 milestones and targets. Fourth payment €598 million (gross) / €515 million (net of advances) requested August 2025; €464 million disbursed January 2026 (eureporter.co 2026-01-16); cumulative paid-to-date €2.26 billion = 58.7% of total allocation as of January 2026. LITHUANIAN STATE FINANCING AND DISTRIBUTION CHASSIS: - UAB ILTE ("Investicijos Lietuvos ekonomikai" / "Investment in the Lithuanian Economy"): Lithuanian state national development bank, 100% state-owned, sole shareholder Ministry of Finance, governed by the Law on the National Development Bank of the Republic of Lithuania. Founded 2001; renamed from INVEGA (Investicijų ir verslo garantijos UAB) to ILTE on 30 August 2024 as part of the full conversion into a national development bank. Portfolio approximately €1.4 billion (2024). In late 2025 the Ministry of Finance increased ILTE statutory capital approximately fourfold from €53 million to €203 million to expand the bank's leverage capacity and complete the national-development-bank conversion. ILTE is the load-bearing Lithuanian indigenous chassis for productive-capacity financing at sovereign scale (ilte.lt; finmin.lrv.lt; governance.lt; eltia.eu). - Ignitis Group (AB Ignitis grupė): state-controlled Lithuanian energy holding (formerly Lietuvos Energija UAB), majority state-owned via the Ministry of Finance with minority listed on Nasdaq Vilnius. Largest integrated utility in the Baltic states; approximately 4,851 employees (2025). Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė publicly stated August 2025 the Government's intent to explore gradual buy-back of Ignitis Group minority shares to return the company to full state ownership (lrt.lt 2025-08). Strategic Plan 2026-2029 published Q1 2026. - Litgrid AB: Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator (TSO), member of EPSO-G state-owned group. Led the Lithuanian side of the 9 February 2025 Baltic Synchro disconnection from BRELL and connection to the Continental Europe Synchronous Area (CESA) under ENTSO-E. Synchronous link via LitPol Link (Lithuania-Poland AC interconnector); HVDC links via NordBalt (Lithuania-Sweden) and Estlink 1/2. - KN Energies AB (formerly Klaipėdos nafta): operator of the Klaipėda LNG terminal and the FSRU "Independence." KN acquired full ownership of FSRU "Independence" from Höegh LNG in December 2024, ending the prior 10-year lease arrangement (knenergies.lt). Terminal regasification capacity 3.75 bcm/year; 34 LNG vessels unloaded in 2025 — record year. Long-term capacity occupancy secured through 2033. KN open season February 2026 offered 28 TWh/year from 2033-2044 in 4-TWh packages. - Altra (formal name: SE Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant): operator of the Ignalina decommissioning programme; rebranded from "SE Ignalina NPP" to Altra in late 2025 to reflect the shift from generation to nuclear transformation. Two RBMK-1500 reactors permanently shut down 31 December 2009. Decommissioning licence granted 2024 for both units and radioactive-waste storage facilities; near-surface low/intermediate radioactive waste repository construction commenced May 2025 (altra.lt; nucnet.org). On 25-27 February 2026 in Washington, Altra signed a trilateral assessment-phase Memorandum of Understanding with Synthos Green Energy (Poland) and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (United States) on the prospects of deploying the BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Lithuania (world-nuclear- news.org; altra.lt; enmin.lrv.lt). The 2026 MoU is an assessment-phase instrument, not a deployment agreement. - AB Lietuvos paštas: the Lithuanian state postal service. - Lietuvos bankas (Bank of Lithuania): central bank within the eurozone, governed by the European Central Bank (ECB) under the Eurosystem. - Valstybinė mokesčių inspekcija (VMI / State Tax Inspectorate): tax administration. - Valstybinio socialinio draudimo fondo valdyba (SODRA / State Social Insurance Fund Board): the population-level Lithuanian social-security administrative chassis (pensions, sickness and maternity, unemployment insurance, work-accident benefits), under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. Direct Lithuanian structural counterpart to the Latvian VSAA. LITHUANIAN AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CONTEXT: - Lithuania has substantial domestic agricultural capacity in grain (wheat, rye, oats, barley), dairy, pork, poultry, freshwater fish, and forestry products. Nacionalinė mokėjimo agentūra (NMA / National Paying Agency) under the Ministry of Agriculture administers EU agricultural payments and rural-development programmes including the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). - The Lithuanian cooperative tradition is deep: the first Lithuanian consumer cooperative was founded in Vilnius in 1869; the Cooperative Societies Law was passed in 1919; the umbrella Lithuanian Cooperative Union (Lietuvos kooperatyvų sąjunga, also historically Lietkoopsąjunga) joined the International Cooperative Alliance in 1920. The agricultural cooperative Lietūkis was founded 1923. The tradition was suppressed under Soviet rule and partially revived after 1991. Modern KB Lietuvos kooperatyvų sąjunga registered 8 April 1992 (lvks.lt; vle.lt). - Lithuanian inflation 2022-2024 spike: Lithuanian food prices rose significantly during the European energy crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, exacerbated by Lithuania's historic energy dependence on Russian gas and Russian-grid electricity (since resolved through Baltic Synchro on 9 February 2025 and through full domestic gasification via the Klaipėda LNG terminal under KN Energies). - Lithuanian food bank network: Maisto Bankas (Lithuanian Food Bank), founded 2001, supports approximately 232,000 Lithuanians and distributes 6,700-8,000 tons of food annually via approximately 600 local distribution points and 40 free food shops; up to 450,000 Lithuanians (approximately one in seven) are estimated food-insecure (maistobankas.lt; lrt.lt). Maisto Bankas operates in coordination with Lietuvos Raudonasis Kryžius (Lithuanian Red Cross) and municipal social-services agencies. EU FEAD/ESF+ food assistance is distributed across 46 municipalities through Maisto Bankas, the Lithuanian Red Cross, and municipal partners (food.ec.europa.eu). LITHUANIAN CONSTITUTIONAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANCHORS: - Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija (Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, adopted by referendum 25 October 1992): Preamble: invokes the Lithuanian Nation's centuries-old struggle for independence and for the freedom of its native land, affirms the right of every individual and every nation to live and work freely on the land of their forefathers, and proclaims the unwavering will of the Lithuanian Nation to establish independent statehood. Article 1: The State of Lithuania shall be an independent democratic republic. Article 2: The State of Lithuania shall be created by the People. Sovereignty shall belong to the Nation. Article 5: State power shall be exercised by the Seimas, the President of the Republic, the Government, and the Judiciary. Scope of power shall be defined by the Constitution. Institutions of authority shall serve the people. Article 46: Lithuania's economy shall be based on the right of private ownership, freedom of individual economic activity and initiative. The State shall support economic efforts and initiative that are useful to society. The State shall regulate economic activity so that it serves the general welfare of the Nation. The law shall prohibit monopolisation of production and the market and shall protect freedom of fair competition. Article 51: Persons employed shall have the right to rest, leisure, and annual paid leave; the right to social security in old age, in case of disability, of unemployment, and in other cases prescribed by law. Article 53: The State shall take care of people's health and shall guarantee medical aid and services in the event of sickness. - Act of Independence of Lithuania (Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Aktas, 16 February 1918): the founding declaration of the modern Republic of Lithuania, signed by the Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos Taryba) chaired by Jonas Basanavičius. Commemorated annually as Vasario 16-oji (Lithuanian Independence Day). - Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania (Aktas dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomos valstybės atstatymo, 11 March 1990): Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to declare independence from the USSR. Commemorated annually as Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės atkūrimo akto diena. - January Events (Sausio įvykiai, 11-13 January 1991): Soviet OMON and Spetsnaz forces attacked Lithuanian state institutions in Vilnius; 14 unarmed Lithuanian civilians were killed defending the Vilnius Television Tower and the Seimas. The January Events are a living national memory of citizen-led defense of democratic institutions and the philosophical anchor for collective civic duty in modern Lithuania. - Sąjūdis (Reform Movement of Lithuania, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis, founded 3 June 1988): the Lithuanian national- liberation movement that organised the path to independence and the Lithuanian portion of the Baltic Way. - Baltic Way (Baltijos kelias, 23 August 1989): a 675-kilometre human chain joining Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn through approximately two million Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian citizens, protesting the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact and asserting the legitimacy of the three Baltic states' demand for independence. Inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register. The philosophical anchor for Baltic collective civic capacity. - Vincas Kudirka (1858-1899): physician, publisher of Varpas, and author of Tautiška giesmė (the Lithuanian National Hymn, 1898; adopted as national anthem 1919, re-adopted 1989). The philosophical anchor for the Lithuanian cultural-national tradition. - Vytautas the Great (Vytautas Didysis, c. 1350-1430): Grand Duke of Lithuania (1392-1430), presided over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at its territorial peak from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The historical anchor for Lithuanian institutional capacity and continuity. - Dainų šventė (Lithuanian Song Festival, since 1924): inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity together with the Estonian and Latvian song-festival traditions. Mobilises tens of thousands of Lithuanian singers and dancers from every municipality. The philosophical anchor for Lithuanian collective cultural- cooperative capacity at population scale. - Lithuanian cooperative tradition (kooperatyvas / kooperatinis judėjimas): the pre-Soviet agricultural and consumer cooperative movement (first Vilnius cooperative 1869; Cooperative Societies Law 1919; ICA membership 1920; Lietūkis 1923), suppressed under Soviet rule, partially revived post-1991. DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURE PROOF OF CAPACITY: - Valstybinio socialinio draudimo fondo valdyba (SODRA): administers Lithuanian pensions, social benefits, and social insurance to the entire Lithuanian ordinarily-resident population through territorial branches in every region. - Asmens kodas (Personal Code): the Lithuanian eleven-digit national-identification number, the population-level identifier infrastructure. - Elektroniniai valdžios vartai (e-Government Gateway, www.epaslaugos.lt): the unified Lithuanian state-service portal, administered by the Information Society Development Committee under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Offers more than 650 electronic public services. Lithuania ranked seventh in the European eGovernment Benchmark 2023 (lithuania.lt). - Asmens tapatybės kortelė: Lithuanian electronic identification card supporting electronic signature. - Nacionalinė mokėjimo agentūra (NMA): the load-bearing rural agricultural-payments distribution chassis. HISTORICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PRECEDENT (Papers VIII + I, universal): - Augustus annona civica; Nerva alimenta; Tabula Alimentaria COMPETENCY AND DEVELOPMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE (Paper X, universal): - Lithuanian education: 12-year general education (primary, basic, secondary) followed by post-secondary vocational, college, and university education. Lithuanian universities include Vilnius University (founded 1579, the oldest university in the Baltic region), Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, named for Vytautas the Great), Kaunas University of Technology, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and Klaipėda University. - PIAAC / OECD adult-skills assessment patterns relevant for the developmental-window extension to age 25. CLASSICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANCHORS (universal + Lithuanian): - Plato "Republic"; Adam Smith "Wealth of Nations" Book V - Vytautas the Great (Lithuanian institutional-continuity anchor) - Vincas Kudirka (Lithuanian national-cultural anchor) - Sąjūdis + Baltic Way + January Events 1991 (Lithuanian civic- duty anchor) - Dainų šventė (Lithuanian cooperative-cultural anchor) UNVERIFIED (flag for final-pass verification before public distribution): - Seimas seat distribution after the 2024 general election (confirmed LSDP 52, coalition 86, TS-LKD 28 in opposition; refresh against lrs.lt before publication) - Naujos kartos Lietuva total disbursement after the fourth payment (cumulative €2.26 billion / 58.7% as of January 2026; refresh against ec.europa.eu and finmin.lrv.lt before publication) - ILTE financial-statement figures (refresh against ilte.lt Annual Report 2025 once published) - Maisto Bankas annual food-distribution tonnage (most recent reported range 6,700-8,000 tons/year; refresh against maistobankas.lt 2025 Annual Report once published) ================================================================================ SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas 2024-2028 Term / 2026 Session ================================================================================ ĮSTATYMO PROJEKTAS / DRAFT LAW PATEIKĖ ________ (Seimo nariai) INTRODUCED BY ________ (Members of the Seimas) DĖL LIETUVOS MAISTO, IŠTEKLIŲ IR PIRMOJO BŪTINUMO PREKIŲ UŽTIKRINIMO PROGRAMOS CONCERNING THE LITHUANIAN FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMME ĮSTATYMAS / A LAW ================================================================================ LONG TITLE / ILGAS PAVADINIMAS ================================================================================ LIETUVOS RESPUBLIKOS ĮSTATYMAS DĖL MAISTO, IŠTEKLIŲ IR PIRMOJO BŪTINUMO PREKIŲ UŽTIKRINIMO A LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA concerning the establishment of the Lithuanian Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme; the establishment of Lithuanian Food Assurance Centres (Lietuvos maisto užtikrinimo centrai, LMUC) in every Lithuanian county and major municipality; the conferral of an at-cost basic-needs commodity entitlement on every Lithuanian citizen ordinarily resident in the Republic, identified by Asmens kodas (Personal Code), enrolled through the existing Valstybinio socialinio draudimo fondo valdyba (State Social Insurance Fund Board, SODRA) and Elektroniniai valdžios vartai (e-Government Gateway, www.epaslaugos.lt) infrastructure; coordination with UAB ILTE (the Lithuanian state-owned national development bank) for capital investment; coordination with the Nacionalinė mokėjimo agentūra (National Paying Agency, NMA) for rural distribution and the Lithuanian agricultural cooperative sector; coordination with the Naujos kartos Lietuva (New Generation Lithuania) Recovery and Resilience Plan (€3.85 billion EU NextGenerationEU allocation; €2.26 billion / 58.7% cumulative paid-to-date as of January 2026); coordination with Lithuanian consumer cooperatives in the kooperatinis judėjimas tradition; coordination with the Lithuanian Red Cross (Lietuvos Raudonasis Kryžius) and Maisto Bankas (Lithuanian Food Bank) for delivery partnership; consistency with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (1992), particularly Article 46 (the State shall regulate economic activity so that it serves the general welfare of the Nation) and Article 53 (the State shall take care of people's health); consistency with the philosophical heritage of Vytautas the Great, Vincas Kudirka, Sąjūdis, the Baltic Way of 23 August 1989, the January Events of 1991, and the Dainų šventė cooperative-cultural tradition; explicit declination to establish any new Lithuanian income tax (gyventojų pajamų mokestis), value added tax (pridėtinės vertės mokestis, PVM), excise duty (akcizas), or other Lithuanian tax of any kind for the funding of the Programme; and provision for connected purposes. ================================================================================ LEGISLATIVE ROUTING NOTE ================================================================================ This Draft Law (Įstatymo projektas) is for introduction in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania during the 2024-2028 term, 2026 Session, under the legislative-initiative provisions of the Constitution (Article 68). Suggested committee referrals following First Reading: - Socialinių reikalų ir darbo komitetas (Social Affairs and Labour Committee) — for the welfare-related provisions - Biudžeto ir finansų komitetas (Budget and Finance Committee) — for the fiscal provisions - Kaimo reikalų komitetas (Rural Affairs Committee) — for the agricultural-cooperative and rural-distribution provisions - Ekonomikos komitetas (Economic Affairs Committee) — for the ILTE coordination provisions - Europos reikalų komitetas (European Affairs Committee) — for the Naujos kartos Lietuva coordination provisions - Švietimo ir mokslo komitetas (Education and Science Committee) — for the education-modernisation provisions Following Seimas passage on Third Reading, the Law is submitted to the President of the Republic for promulgation in the Teisės aktų registras (Register of Legal Acts) and published in the Teisės aktų informacinė sistema (TAIS). ================================================================================ DIVISION I — FOOD ASSURANCE ================================================================================ ARTICLE 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LITHUANIAN FOOD, RESOURCE, AND COMMODITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMME. (1) There is hereby established the Lithuanian Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme (Lietuvos maisto, išteklių ir pirmojo būtinumo prekių užtikrinimo programa, "the Programme"), administered by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerija) in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture (Žemės ūkio ministerija), the Ministry of Finance (Finansų ministerija), the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (Ekonomikos ir inovacijų ministerija), and the 60 municipal local governments (savivaldybės). (2) The Programme shall operate Lithuanian Food Assurance Centres (Lietuvos maisto užtikrinimo centrai, "LMUC") in every Lithuanian county (apskritis) and major municipality on the effective date of this Act, with priority deployment in the counties of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, and the rural counties of Alytus, Marijampolė, Tauragė, Telšiai, and Utena. ARTICLE 2. ENTITLEMENT TO PARTICIPATE. (1) Every Lithuanian citizen ordinarily resident in the Republic of Lithuania, identified by Asmens kodas (Personal Code), is automatically entitled to participate in the Programme. (2) Foreign nationals lawfully resident in Lithuania who hold an Asmens kodas (including holders of EU residence rights and Lithuanian residence permits) are likewise entitled. (3) Participation is voluntary. No citizen is required to obtain goods through the Programme; the existing commercial retail market continues to operate unaffected. ARTICLE 3. PROGRAMME GOODS AND AT-COST PRICING. (1) LMUC outlets shall offer for distribution at production cost plus reasonable distribution allowance: (a) Staple foods (rye bread / ruginė duona, wheat bread, potatoes / bulvės, oats, grains, pulses, cooking oils, sugar, salt, tea, coffee); (b) Protein sources (pork, chicken, eggs, freshwater fish from Lithuanian inland fisheries, Baltic herring / silkė and other Baltic fish, dairy products including curd / varškė and sour cream / grietinė consistent with Lithuanian dietary tradition); (c) Vegetables and fruits sourced where possible from Lithuanian producers including beetroot, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, apples, and seasonal berries; (d) Basic clothing including weather-appropriate outerwear suitable for the Lithuanian climate, school uniforms aligned with national-curriculum requirements, undergarments, and footwear; (e) Hand tools, household goods, basic kitchen and cleaning supplies; (f) Educational supplies for students through the developmental window extended to age 25; (g) Basic baby and child supplies; (h) Emergency-preparedness supplies (water, non-perishable food, basic lighting) given Lithuania's strategic-security exposure on the NATO eastern frontier, including the Suwałki Gap and the Lithuanian-Belarusian and Lithuanian- Kaliningrad borders. (2) Pricing shall be calculated on the at-cost basis. ARTICLE 4. COORDINATION WITH AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES AND THE NACIONALINĖ MOKĖJIMO AGENTŪRA. (1) The Minister of Agriculture, in coordination with the Nacionalinė mokėjimo agentūra (NMA, National Paying Agency), is directed to enter partnership agreements with Lithuanian agricultural cooperatives, including those affiliated with the modern KB Lietuvos kooperatyvų sąjunga (Lithuanian Cooperative Union), for the supply of Lithuanian-grown agricultural commodities to the Programme. (2) The partnership shall preserve cooperative autonomy and membership governance and shall coordinate with European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) administration. (3) The Lithuanian cooperative tradition of more than one hundred and fifty years — beginning with the first Vilnius consumer cooperative of 1869, the Cooperative Societies Law of 1919, and Lithuanian membership in the International Cooperative Alliance from 1920 — is recognised as a Lithuanian institutional resource and is expressly preserved by this Act. ARTICLE 5. DELIVERY PARTNERSHIP WITH LITHUANIAN RED CROSS AND MAISTO BANKAS. (1) The Programme is authorised to enter delivery-partnership agreements with Lietuvos Raudonasis Kryžius (Lithuanian Red Cross) and Maisto Bankas (Lithuanian Food Bank) for last-mile distribution at municipal level. (2) Partnership agreements shall preserve the independent governance of those organisations and shall not transfer Programme commodities for any purpose other than the at-cost distribution mandate of this Act. ================================================================================ DIVISION II — PUBLIC HEALTH PROMOTION ================================================================================ ARTICLE 6. PUBLIC HEALTH PROMOTION. (1) The Programme operates in coordination with the Ministry of Health (Sveikatos apsaugos ministerija) and the State Health Care Accreditation Agency to monitor and to contribute to the reduction of basic-needs food insecurity and stress-mediated public-health conditions in Lithuanian counties. (2) The Ministry of Health shall report annually to the Seimas on the relationship between LMUC access in each county and Lithuanian population health indicators, consistent with Article 53 of the Constitution. ================================================================================ DIVISION III — EDUCATION MODERNISATION ================================================================================ ARTICLE 7. EDUCATION PIPELINE AND THE EXTENDED DEVELOPMENTAL WINDOW. (1) The Lithuanian education system is acknowledged by this Act as a foundation for the developmental pipeline proposed by the Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2026) — the existing 12-year general education plus post-secondary vocational, college, and university education, with an extension of the developmental window to age 25 consistent with the Compendium's broader proposal. (2) The Minister of Education, Science, and Sport (Švietimo, mokslo ir sporto ministras) is directed to prepare a report to the Seimas within twenty-four months of the effective date of this Act on the operational steps required to extend developmental and competency-maintenance arrangements beyond the current post-secondary structure, in coordination with Vilnius University (founded 1579, the oldest university in the Baltic region), Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Technology, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and other Lithuanian universities. (3) The Vitruvian Quotient framework (Cooper, 2026) is recognised by this Act as the conceptual instrument for the developmental pipeline. Detailed implementation of a Lithuanian Education Modernisation Law is the subject of a separate Įstatymo projektas. ================================================================================ DIVISION IV — FUNDING ================================================================================ ARTICLE 8. INITIAL APPROPRIATION. (1) For the financial year 2027 there is appropriated from the Lithuanian state budget the sum of €120 million for the establishment of the Programme and the initial operation of LMUC outlets, scaled to the Lithuanian population of approximately 2.87 million on a per-capita basis comparable to the Latvian programme appropriation. (2) Subsequent annual appropriations shall be made in the ordinary annual budget Law. ARTICLE 9. COORDINATION WITH UAB ILTE. (1) LMUC infrastructure capital investment may, by agreement between the Programme and UAB ILTE ("Investicijos Lietuvos ekonomikai"), the Lithuanian state-owned national development bank, be co-financed from ILTE's loan, guarantee, or venture-capital instruments where consistent with ILTE's statutory mandate under the Law on the National Development Bank of the Republic of Lithuania and with the bank's operational strategy, up to a cumulative outstanding principal of €400 million. (2) ILTE's role as the sole national development bank of Lithuania, with statutory capital increased fourfold (from €53 million to €203 million) in late 2025 to expand the bank's leverage capacity for the national-development-bank conversion, makes it the natural Lithuanian indigenous chassis for Programme capital investment. This Act does not direct, instruct, or constrain any ILTE financing decision; coordination under this Article is by agreement only. ARTICLE 10. COORDINATION WITH THE NAUJOS KARTOS LIETUVA PLAN. (1) LMUC infrastructure capital investment may, by agreement between the Programme and the Ministry of Finance, be co-financed from the Naujos kartos Lietuva (New Generation Lithuania) Recovery and Resilience Plan allocation (€3.85 billion total: €2.3 billion grants + €1.55 billion loans; cumulative €2.26 billion / 58.7% paid-to-date as of January 2026) where consistent with the Lithuanian investment and reform lines approved by the European Commission and the Council of the European Union. (2) The Programme does not displace any existing Naujos kartos Lietuva investment or reform line. ================================================================================ DIVISION V — GENERAL PROVISIONS ================================================================================ ARTICLE 11. NO NEW TAXATION. (1) The Seimas declares that no new Lithuanian personal income tax (gyventojų pajamų mokestis, GPM), corporate income tax (pelno mokestis), value added tax (pridėtinės vertės mokestis, PVM), excise duty (akcizas), or other Lithuanian tax of any kind is established, extended, or increased by this Act for the funding of the Programme. (2) The Programme is funded through existing Lithuanian fiscal infrastructure as enumerated in Division IV. ARTICLE 12. EXISTING LITHUANIAN INSTITUTIONS UNAFFECTED. This Act does not affect the establishment, functions, governance, or operation of: (a) Lietuvos bankas (Bank of Lithuania, the central bank within the Eurosystem); (b) UAB ILTE (Investicijos Lietuvos ekonomikai), beyond the coordination expressly authorised by Article 9; (c) Ignitis Group, Litgrid AB, KN Energies AB, Altra (SE Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in decommissioning), AB Lietuvos paštas, and other state-owned or state-controlled enterprises; (d) Valstybinio socialinio draudimo fondo valdyba (SODRA), Valstybinė mokesčių inspekcija (VMI), Nacionalinė mokėjimo agentūra (NMA), the Information Society Development Committee, and other state agencies, beyond the coordination expressly authorised by this Act; (e) The Naujos kartos Lietuva Recovery and Resilience Plan, beyond the coordination expressly authorised by Article 10; (f) Lithuanian consumer cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, and the kooperatinis judėjimas tradition generally; (g) Lietuvos Raudonasis Kryžius (Lithuanian Red Cross) and Maisto Bankas (Lithuanian Food Bank), beyond the delivery partnership expressly authorised by Article 5; (h) The Seimas, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybė), the President of the Republic (Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas), the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas), the Supreme Court (Lietuvos Aukščiausiasis Teismas), and the Constitution. ARTICLE 13. CONSTITUTIONAL CONSISTENCY. (1) This Act is enacted consistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (1992), including Article 5 (state institutions shall serve the people), Article 46 (the State shall regulate economic activity so that it serves the general welfare of the Nation), Article 51 (the right to social security), and Article 53 (the State shall take care of people's health). ARTICLE 14. EFFECTIVE DATE. (1) This Act takes effect on 1 January 2027, except that Article 8 (Initial Appropriation) takes effect on the date this Act is promulgated in the Teisės aktų registras, and Article 1 (Establishment) takes effect ninety days after promulgation. (2) The Government shall issue implementing regulations (Vyriausybės nutarimai) within 120 days of promulgation. (3) Initial Programme distribution is targeted for 16 February 2027 (Vasario 16-oji, Lithuanian Independence Day, commemorating the Act of Independence of 1918). ARTICLE 15. INTERPRETATION. In this Act — "the Programme" means the Lithuanian Food, Resource, and Commodity Assurance Programme established under Article 1; "a LMUC outlet" means a Lithuanian Food Assurance Centre established under Article 1; "Asmens kodas" means the Lithuanian Personal Code; "ILTE" means UAB ILTE (Investicijos Lietuvos ekonomikai), the Lithuanian state-owned national development bank; "Naujos kartos Lietuva" means the Lithuanian Recovery and Resilience Plan under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility; "kooperatinis judėjimas" means the Lithuanian cooperative movement; "ordinarily resident" has the meaning given by Lithuanian residence law. ================================================================================ - END - ================================================================================