Budget, Financial Services, Legislation, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Transport

According to the president, state forestry enterprises operate chaotically and the state railway operator Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways) has become "a state within a state" and the bankruptcy of Lietuvos Juru Laivininkyste (Lithuanian Shipping Company) has brought international shame to the country.

"Thirty nine state-owned companies do not pay a single euro in dividends to the budget. Under the guise of national economic importance, they only seek privileges and benefits. Their funds are used to purchase media outlets and they serve as long-term havens for unemployed party members, their wives and in-laws," the head of state said in her annual State of the Nation Address to the Seimas.

According to Grybauskaite, state-owned companies' contribution to GDP is meager and the government's failure to reduce the number of forestry enterprises shows that they are "unshakeable".

"Every year we receive comments about the ineffective governance of state-owned enterprises. Public assets with the value of 9 billion euros and a 40-thousand-strong labor force contribute only 3% of GDP to the national economy," the president said.

"The return on equity in state-owned companies across the forestry and transport sectors has dropped considerably. Forty two unshakeable state forest enterprises operate chaotically and ineffectively," she said.