Defence bonds issued for EUR 19.6 million

Between 2 and 16 February, individuals, businesses and other organisations purchased defence bonds for EUR 19.6 million, and 1152 transactions were concluded. As of February, defence bonds are distributed uninterruptedly: two new issues of defence bonds, one-year and six-month, with annual interest rates of 2% and 1%, respectively, are available again from today.

Between 2 and 16 February, two issues with different maturities were distributed:
• 1-year issue of defence bonds totalled EUR 11.6 million (697 transactions): Swedbank concluded 516 contracts for the purchase of defence bonds of this issue for EUR 7.4 million, SEB - 181 contracts for EUR 4.2 million. This 1-year issue will be subject to a 2% annual interest rate and will be redeemed on 17 February 2027.
• 6-month issue of defence bonds was distributed for a total amount of almost EUR 8 million (455 transactions): Swedbank entered into 343 contracts for the purchase of defence bonds of this issue for almost EUR 5.3 million, SEB - 112 contracts for EUR 2.7 million. This 6-month issue will be subject to a 1% half-yearly interest rate and will be redeemed on 18 August 2026.

Between 17 February and 2 March, two new issues of defence bonds with different maturities and interest rates are being distributed. The 1-year issue will be subject to a 2% annual interest rate (redemption on 3 March 2027). A half-yearly interest rate of 1% will be paid on the issue with a twice shorter maturity of 6 months (redemption on 1 September 2026).

Since the launch of the defence bond placement in 2024, during 18 issues buyers have purchased the bonds for a total of EUR 258.3 million.

The defence bonds are targeted Government savings notes (GSN) to finance defence needs. The peculiarity of the defence bonds is that the State borrows from individuals and businesses cheaper than in the markets, and the latter thus contribute to the financing of the national defence.

Everyone willing to acquire defence bonds can do so through distributors selected by the Ministry of Finance, namely Swedbank, SEB and Orion Securities. Individuals and legal persons are able to purchase the defence bonds at Swedbank, SEB online bank, Orion Securities online platform, as well as at SEB bank branches. More information about the acquisition of defence bonds can be found at www.gynybosfondas.lt and on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

When the time comes to redeem the defence bonds, nothing will have to be done - the money for the redeemed defence bonds and the interest due will be automatically transferred to the same account from which the payment for the purchased defence bonds was made.

The preliminary schedule for the issue of the defence bonds foresees that the next two issues will be launched immediately after the end of the current issues. The schedule is updated on a monthly basis and published on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

The interest rate for the defence bonds for each issue shall be set taking into account the average interest rate for borrowing by the Government on behalf of the State of an appropriate maturity, but in any case, it may not exceed 2 %, as decided by the Seimas on 20 June 2024. The interest rate shall be set and published together with other terms and conditions of the issue placement of the defence bonds on the website of the Ministry of Finance at least one working day before the commencement of the placement of the defence bonds.

More information on the defence bonds can be found in the special column "Frequently asked questions" here.

About the Defence Fund:

Please note that the Defence Fund entered into operation on 1 October 2024 with the aim of increasing the national defence funding, foreseeing additional sustainable sources of financing.

The resources of the Defence Fund will be dedicated for acquisition of weapons, equipment and ammunition necessary for the development of a division-level military unit capacity, infrastructure necessary for the German brigade in Lithuania, acquisition and development of counter-mobility measures, military mobility and double-purpose (civil and military needs) transport infrastructure projects, strengthening and development of the civil protection foreseen in the Law on Crisis Management and Civil Protection.