On 16 July 2024, Jūras Banys, the president of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, and Zenonas Dabkevičius, the vice-president of the Academy, met Gediminas Šimkus, the chair of the board of the Bank of Lithuania, to discuss ideas and initiatives for cooperation between the Academy and the Bank of Lithuania in the promotion of research in the fields of economics and finance. The aim was to engage in collective activities that would stimulate researchers and to honour the memory of prominent Lithuanian economists.
The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Bank of Lithuania already have a successful track record of successful partnership. In 2008, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Academy and the Bank of Lithuania on establishing the prize named after Prof. Vladas Jurgutis, an academician who served as the chair of the Academy of Sciences from May 1942 to March 1943 and the first governor of the Bank of Lithuania. Established by the board of the Bank of Lithuania, this prize is awarded for outstanding scientific work in the fields of banking, finance, money, and macroeconomics in Lithuania.
Left, Gediminas Šimkus, chair of the board of the Bank of Lithuania, and Prof. Jūras Banys
During the meeting, emphasis was placed on the importance of rewarding scholars not only for their scientific publications but also for their research on Lithuanian economy and finance. An agreement was reached that it would be appropriate to recognise not only the achievements of the academician Prof. Vladas Jurgutis, but also that of the academician Prof. Eduardas Vilkas and other eminent economists.
It is expected that there will be more meetings in the future to crystallise the directions of cooperation between the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Bank of Lithuania.
Evelina Baronienė, Chief Assistant to the President of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Translated by Diana Barnard