“Study reveals 490 Lithuanian companies fully owned by tax haven residents”

Foto: Proxima Studio/SHUTTERSTOCK

There are 490 companies in Lithuania that are fully owned by persons in so-called tax havens, according to a study by the open data platform “Okredo”.

197 or 40% of such companies are owned by Cypriot capital owners, followed by Israel and Malta with 86 or 18% and 33 or 8% companies respectively.

Last year, the European Commission added Russia to offshore jurisdictions, Lithuania has 598 companies with Russian capital, employing 538 people.

“Okredo” pointed out that the European Union members Cyprus and Malta, which have some of the lowest corporate taxes in the bloc, are not on the list of “tax havens” in Brussels, but are included in the list of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Cyprus is included in the “Okredo” study because the international reports in which companies can check the reliability of their international partners do not contain data on Cypriot companies, therefore it is considered a high-risk business country, explained Gerda Jurkoniene, head of “Okredo”.

According to the information gathered by “Orkedo”, 26 Lithuanian company owners are from Armenia, 18 each from Hong Kong and Liechtenstein, 14 companies each have owners in the British Virgin Islands and Turkey, and 11 companies are located in Gibraltar.

13% of companies with offshore owners are related to trade and information technology, 11% provide administrative and support services, and 10% provide financial services or are involved in professional, scientific or technical activities.

Themes