Klaipėdos universitetas

The paper concentrates on the international transfer of capital in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). A relatively high level of investment attractiveness of an economy is required for the attraction of capital in the form of FDI. Inflow of capital in the form of FDI is perceived as a factor stimulating economic development of the so-called catching up economies, and the Visegrad 4 countries can be viewed as such economies. The crucial objective of the paper is to present investment attractiveness of the Visegrad 4 countries in the light of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / the World Bank reports and EY’s surveys. A parallel objective is to analyse the engagement of the Visegrad 4 countries in international capital transfer in the form of FDI in post-crisis period in order to identify inward and outward FDI flows and stock. The research tools used in the article included literature studies, descriptive analysis and comparative analysis. The undertaken research leads to a conclusion that foreign capital played an important role in the transformation of the V4 economies and their strong integration with the world economy. It contributed to supplementing capital shortages and increasing efficiency. The V4 countries remain net importers of capital in the form of FDI, though the positions of the V4 as investors in the world market have risen slightly over the last decade. It is of vital importance to introduce dynamic and effective actions aiming at promoting the V4 as a location of FDI and to undertake parallel activities directed at stimulating the V4 investment abroad.

Darnaus vystymosi idėjų ir principų taikymas šių dienų plėtros procesuose, be abejo, yra populiari, diskutuotina pastarųjų metųmokslinė tema. Vis dėlto tai nepadeda atskleisti kai kurių darnaus vystymosi tyrimo problemų, nenusako to, kaip darnus vystymasisįvertinamas tam tikruose etapuose ir kaip išskiriami rodikliai, padedantys apskaičiuoti procesą. Šio straipsnio tikslas – pateikti metodologiją,kaip, autoriaus nuomone, būtų galima išskirti rodiklius, kurie tiktų vertinti įvairių procesų darną. Straipsnyje aptariamiįvairių procesų vystymosi veiksniai, aplinkos būklės saugumo kriterijai, apimantys skirtingas sritis.

This article presents the socioeconomic and demographic situation in Klaipėda county that is illustrated by chosen indicators’ analysis. In this article Klaipėda county has been chosen as an example territory to measure the peripherality phenomenon. Thus, in order to measure the peripherality the chosen indicators’ values were compared with Lithuanian average and state’s centres’ values. The article stresses the most peripheral regions in Klaipėda county which needs the governance attention and also the strongest one that leads all the county. The article finds out that the cooperation question is essential for both – county’s peripheries and centres – as it provides possibility to stay stable or even endows a potential to grow.

The sustainable city debate is gaining ground in recent years, featuring as a prominent issue in several policy documents of the European Commission, and enjoying support by the main organisations and institutions at international level. At the same time, improving local governance standards by involving citizens in local decision-making is a recurring issue in the debate on local democracy and enhancement of community cohesion. This paper presents an analysis of the European experience and best practice relating sustainable development to the day-to-day practice of spatial planning. The overall purpose is creating a proposal of indicators for measuring the sustainability of planning actions in urban environments.

The article discusses the beginning, assumptions and dispersion of the historical reenactment movement in the world. National peculiarities of the phenomenon are highlighted by presenting the preconditions for and circumstances of the historical reconstruction movement in Lithuania. Features of the phenomenon are analysed in the formation of the first historical reconstruction clubs and the first festivals. The basis for this work is fieldwork material collected during 2015–2018, in the form of surveys and interviews with respondents. The data was processed by applying historical comparative and analytical methods. According to the data, the beginning of the historical reenactment movement in Lithuania started in the 1980s. This was influenced by Lithuania’s restitution of its statehood in the 1990s after Soviet suppression, and the desire to properly present the long history of the state. The folklore movement that started around the 1970s was still in existence, and influenced the start of the historical reenactment movement. The media (especially the Internet) and relations with foreign clubs (in Latvia, Poland, Estonia, Belarus and Russia) increased the development and popularity of movement. The analysis of the data has indicated the following main historical reenactment periods: the Balts, the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic era, the First and the Second World War, and the resistance. In the reenactment of general themes (such as Medieval), the local, regional and national history and artefacts are employed. The period of the Balts and Baltic tribes (Yotvingians, Curonians), the period of the creation and prosperity of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the partisan resistance, are themes by which the historical reenactment movement stands out.

When Juozapas Mykolas Karpis became bishop of Samogitia, he published Epistola pastoralis – pastoral letter for clergy and seculars. In historiography it is known for its religious and ethnographical things and even to specialists in Lithuanian philology. However, it becomes the main object of this article because of the purpose to settle what kind of Samogitian diocese he wanted to create and how many influences for this process had his political activity. In the preface shortly introduced the concept of pastoral letter and its origin. Also, is given short descriptions of first pastoral letters in Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the first section introduced J. M. Karpis life details needed for the research. It helps to reveal future bishop experience, which could have influence, direct and indirect, for letters creation. In the second section and its subsections introduced some communities and problems descriptive in pastoral letter, through which reveals not even Samogitian episcopate situation, but and J. M. Karpis purposes in this diocese.

“Gray customs system” is an illegal practice of getting goods across the border without official customs approval. Such practice makes a negative impact on Russia-China economic relations and is, therefore, considered as a barrier for bilateral economic relations between Russia and China. In this context, the paper examines the problems occurred due to the gray customs system and the action taken to mitigate this problem. The research method used for this article is the case study method referring to secondary data, scholarly literature and reports.

This paper presents the development of a distance learning course for pre-service teachers which focuses on science education in

Emphasizing sustainable economic development preconditions in Lithuania and in order to research the formation of regional policy, the article was made on Lithuania financial crisis impact on the economy, comparative study. It was found that in the literature lacks of general method to compare the different financial crises that have occurred in different regions, countries or at different intervals impact to economic indicators, so was created financial crisis impact on countries economy index, to compare this diferent impact. The study identified three financial crisis which negatively affected Lithuanian economy – “Lithunia banking crisis” (1995), “Russian financial crisis” (1998) and “Global Financial Crisis” (2008). Based on this new index calculations, the financial crisis affect was compared and found that the greatest negative impact on the economy caused the Global financial crisis (2008). Examining the specifics of Lithuania’s economy noted that all of the financial crisis affected the gross domestic product growth, labor market and the country budget balance. Meanwhile, the impact on other macroeconomic indicators of the crisis depended on the crises specifics and was different.

The article analyses proverbs that mention bread. The aim is to reveal how bread is treated in Lithuanian proverbs, and to provide an analysis of the image of bread. It analyses Lithuanian proverbs in which bread is treated as a meal, as well as symbolic meanings and the personification of bread. Stylistic analysis, interpretation and description methods are used in the preparation of the article. Material published in the compendium ‘Lithuanian Proverbs and Sayings’ was mostly used.