Small and Medium-Sized Business
Development of small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter referred to as “SMEs”) is a major decisive factor determining competitiveness and growth of the market economy in Europe and other countries of the world.
The definition of the concept of small and medium-sized business (SMB) entities is provided by the Republic of Lithuania Law on Small and Medium-sized Business Development (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”), the new version of which came into force on 1 January 2008. The Law defines SMB entities, state aid forms applied to these entities and other provisions relevant to SMB. Pursuant to the said Law, the SMB entity shall be a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise within the meaning of the provisions laid down in Article 3 of the Law or a businessman meeting the provision laid down in Article 4 of the Law.
Concept of SMEs
|
Staff |
Financial indicators meet at least one of these requirements: | ||
|
Annual income, |
Book value of assets, |
||
| Medium-sized enterprise | Fewer than 250 | 138 | 93 |
| Small enterprise | Fewer than 50 | 24 | 17 |
| Micro enterprise | Fewer than 10 | 7 | 5 |
The provision that prohibits restricting or limiting possibilities of SMB entities to get state aid based on the activity character of an entity was eliminated from the Law. A new body, the Small and Medium-sized Business Council, that is comprised of representatives of associations, members of which are business entities, has been made statutory with a view to ensure cooperation between SMB representatives and state authorities. You can find more about the Republic of Lithuania Law on Small and Medium-sized Business Development and other legal acts under the heading Legal environment.
Last date edited: 2012-04-24
