2024-04-20 06:19:18
“We, the representatives of the catering sector, face an increasing financial burden on business every day, which has been increased by 9% since the New Year. up to 21 percent increased VAT rate for catering services. In the fight for survival, business is losing – every month we observe decreasing turnover, increasing number of bankruptcies and business sales. Restaurants and catering establishments that have been operating for many years are also closing their doors,” the catering sector said in a statement.
During the promotion, 20-30 food vans will be brought to Gediminas Avenue, which will possibly offer free tea, coffee, sweets or soup to passers-by and the curious.
It is planned that representatives of catering establishments from all over Lithuania will join the protest action.
Cafes and restaurants located near the Government also plan to stop their activities during the protest.
“Our goal is to be heard and understood by the public and to draw the attention of politicians to the problems of the catering sector. The campaign’s demands include a package of measures, which include proposals for tourism promotion, shadow reduction and tax policy changes.
Our most important goal is to reduce VAT to 9%, which would help our businesses remain viable and competitive. We have stated all these requests and demands in various forms both to the Government and to the members of the Seimas, but we have not been heard, and the situation is developing precisely according to the pessimistic scenario of the wave of uncollected taxes and bankruptcies described by us”, the organizers write about the objectives of the campaign.
Traffic will be prohibited. Vilnius City Municipality also informs that due to the protest organized by the Lithuanian Hotel and Restaurant Association on April 19. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. vehicular traffic will be prohibited on the section of Gediminas Avenue from Cathedral Square to Vilniaus Street. In the section from St. George st. to Vilniaus St., on the side of odd-numbered houses on Gediminas Avenue, there will be food vans.
2024-04-20 06:19:18