Join us at our Monthly Luncheon Program on September 27th for:
Lithuania – Gateway to Eastern Europe
A Discussion on Trade + Defense Procurement in Lithuania
Featured Speakers:
Rolandas Kriščiūnas – Lithuanian Ambassador to the US
Vaidotas Urbelis – Lithuanian Defense Advisor + US Commercial Service Representative
Presentation will include a brief overview on trade relations between the US and Lithuania, defense issues, and the current geopolitical situation. Commercial Service will speak on exports from the US to Europe and the resources available at a federal level to grow businesses through international trade.
About the speakers:
Rolandas Kriščiūnas assumed his role as Lithuania’s ambassador to the United States on Aug. 3, 2015. It’s the first such post for Kriščiūnas. Kriščiūnas was born Oct. 16, 1970, in Panevėžys, Lithuania. He attended college at Vytautas Didysis University in Kaunas, Lithuania, earning a bachelor’s degree in business informatics in 1993.
Kriščiūnas joined his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shortly thereafter and was a third secretary in the Economic Department’s Economic Analysis Division. The following year, he took time out to go to the United States and study economics at Ohio University. He graduated with a master’s degree from there in 1996. He also completed European Union studies at the Clingendael Institute of International Relations at The Hague, The Netherlands. He then returned to the Economic Analysis Division as a first secretary.
His first Washington assignment came in 1998, when he was stationed at his country’s embassy as a first secretary. Kriščiūnas returned to Lithuania in 2001, but this time to the Finance Ministry, where he was the director of the European Union Program Management Department. In 2004, he was named an undersecretary of finance. In 2008, toward the end of his tenure at that post, he completed a management studies program at The Swedish Institute in Stockholm. The following year he was named vice minister at the Finance Ministry. He returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012 as a vice minister, and remained in that job until being posted to Washington.
Vaidotas Urbelis – Defense Advisor - Vaidotas Urbelis currently serves as the Representative of the Ministry of Defense / Defense Adviser at the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington DC. During his carrier he held numerous positions at the Ministry of Defense, Lithuanian delegation to NATO and the EU and the Parliament. Before moving to the USA, for six years he served as the Defense Policy Director in the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense. Vaidotas Urbelis is the author of numerous publications on defense policy, intelligence reform and foreign policy issues. He received PhD in social sciences from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University.
The Virginia International Business Council, Inc. (VAIBC™) was established in 1948, and it has had a distinguished history as a membership organization serving businesses engaged in or pursuing international trade and the wide range of professionals in the public and private sector that facilitate and enable international trade. Our monthly luncheon programs provide networking and educational opportunities vital to success. We also periodically conduct special workshops featuring experts in the field on topics especially timely and vital to our members, as well as several annual special events, which have historically included our December holiday party and spring golf outing. We actively support other Virginia trade organizations and events, and provide scholarships and other outreach to Virginia colleges and universities. For more information, please contact us: sec@vaibc.org
Virginia International Business Council
