EIMIN seeks greater involvement of Lithuania in European Defence Fund projects
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation has instructed the Innovation Agency to apply to join a project of the European Defence Fund and become a defence accelerator to help grow Lithuanian and European businesses developing innovative solutions. The new accelerator is expected to grow around 20 start-up and scale-up businesses in the defence and security sector over two years.
“We aim to help start-ups in the country’s defence and security sector to develop advanced defence solutions at all stages, from the establishment of the company to expansion into international markets. The new accelerator would be another tool to attract more innovative companies to develop defence and security solutions and to strengthen the country’s defence innovation ecosystem,” said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The project is implemented under the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), which is funded by the European Defence Fund. The project has a preliminary budget of EUR 2.6 million. The project will be implemented by an international consortium, of which the Innovation Agency is a candidate member.
“International cooperation is crucial for the development of defence innovation and for the security of Europe as a whole. The Innovation Agency has a number of important international projects, and participation in this project and the defence accelerator established together with foreign partners would help further the growth of promising start-ups in this field and stimulate the sector’s accelerated development,” said Erika Kuročkina, Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation is actively investing in strengthening the defence innovation ecosystem. This spring, the call “Defence Innovation Vouchers” worth EUR 300,000 was launched to provide defence companies with innovative services from research institutions or mature innovators to create and develop defence technologies in line with the priorities set by the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The Ministry’s initiative has established the venture capital fund MILInvest worth EUR 13 million to help defence start-ups grow.
“Almost 100 organisations in the defence sector are already successfully operating in our country, and by giving more opportunities to innovators working in this field, we can strengthen the security, economy, and international competitiveness of Lithuania and Europe as a whole. In addition to the new defence accelerator, the Innovation Agency’s planned Miltech Lab, which will foster the development of innovative dual-use products, and many other activities implemented by our team, will make a significant contribution to this,” says Romualda Stragienė, Director of the Innovation Agency.
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation has drawn up guidelines for the development of the defence and security industry, which aim to increase the competitiveness of the country’s defence and security industry, foster innovation, and attract investment in this field.
This year, on the initiative of the Ministry, amendments to the law were adopted to facilitate the development of large defence industry projects. The amendments simplify the procedures related to spatial planning, land parcel formation and construction, and enable the start of defence industry operations in Lithuania in the shortest possible time. Last year, amendments to the law were adopted to allow defence industry companies to operate in free trade zones.
The European Defence Fund is managed by the European Commission. The purpose of the fund is to promote cooperation between EU countries in the field of defence and increase their innovation capacity. The Fund has a budget of EUR 8 billion for the period 2021-2027, including EUR 2.7 billion for defence research and EUR 5.3 billion for defence capability development projects.