Transport is an important and broad area. It is vital for the economy and for individuals. In today‘s Lithuania many limitations are placed on transport as part of the market economy, and transportation is heavily regulated by the state. Many branches of the sector are regarded as „natural“ state monopolies and are regulated at the national level. This approach is not natural. On the contrary, it was defined and applied only in the 20th century when massive privatisation of transportation items was launched across countries.

 

Although the transport sector is being opened to market forces, this process is very slow. It is being confronted with numerous barriers and strong opposition from the society and the authorities. All this has grave consequences which can be seen in specific sectors. The Klaipeda seaport is regarded as a strategic national item, rather than an economic entity, despite the fact that it has been affected by dynamic liberalisation processes for some time now. The Lithuanian railway is subject to rigid state regulation and is managed by the state, even though this contradicts EU requirements and market laws. Privatisation of Lithuania‘s airways has been going on for years now, and the airports remain in state ownership with all negative implications of the situation. The roads are a prerogative of the state, so economic activity in this sector is planned to reflect political whims.

 

Transport is first and foremost a part of the economy, not politics. LFMI therefore seeks to bring transport back where it belongs. Our goals are to promote competition and deregulation in the transportation sector, to dispel the myth of a „natural nationalization“ of transport, and to show that market solutions in this sector are possible and necessary.

 

It is our belief that the establishment of market relationships in various sectors of transportation would stimulate their effectiveness, transparency, and growth. For example, the seaport would be much more effective if the present partial deregulation gave way to market solutions. It is advisable to reconvene the seaport‘s council (by inviting the existing service providers to serve on the board). The idea of privatizing the seaport should not be scrapped. In the railway sector the priorities are to discard the all-embracing public management, to separate infrastructure management from the carriers (carriers have to be privately owned and competing), and to make costs and accounting more transparent. Fully-fledged free-market elements would be the straightest path to the maximum effectiveness and international competitiveness of Lithuania‘s railway, seaport, roads and air transport.