Where things happen in Lithuania

A foreign company never needs to visit. But it helps to know where its Lithuanian life physically runs.

Klaipeda container terminal: gantry cranes over the quay — Klaipėda. Where the containers arrive.

Map of Lithuania. Klaipeda port, Kaunas logistics belt, Vilnius institutions, connected by the A1 corridor. — The A1 corridor. Goods enter at Klaipėda, sit in warehouses around Kaunas, and the paperwork lands in Vilnius.

The institutions and their systems

The tax office, VMI. Registrations, returns, letters. Everything runs through the Mano VMI portal and the i.MAS systems, i.SAF for invoices and i.VAZ for waybills. vmi.lt
Customs, Lietuvos muitinė. EORI numbers, import and export declarations, Intrastat, binding tariff rulings. lrmuitine.lt
GPAIS, the packaging and waste system. Registration before the first import, quarterly journals, the annual report. gpais.eu
Registrų centras. The state registries. Under a direct VAT registration you barely touch it, which is part of the point. registrucentras.lt
VIES. The EU database where your buyers' VAT numbers get checked before a 0% invoice is issued. ec.europa.eu/vies

What a trading setup needs on day one

An EORI number if goods cross the EU border. Issued by customs, quick when the papers are right.
The Lithuanian VAT number. One to two months. The guide covers the three documents needed.
GPAIS registration before the first import, not after.
A customs broker at the point of entry. Klaipėda for sea freight, the airport or road terminals otherwise. We work with the broker you have or introduce one.
A warehouse contract. Most foreign traders sit in the Kaunas belt or near Vilnius. The contract doubles as the strongest proof of real activity in the VAT registration.

Honest note on names. We do not publish broker and warehouse recommendations on a page, because the right one depends on your cargo and lane, and because printed lists go stale. Ask, and you get current names for your case, with the reason.