As Lithuania joins euro, concern over emigration

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) - When Antanas Zubavicius turns on the light in his run-down house, it's the only light for miles. He is the last man in Dumbliuneliai, a once busy farmers village in Lithuania that has gradually been abandoned as its residents emigrated in search of better jobs.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is my land," the 60-year-old says, waving at the abandoned, shuttered houses around him. "When I am gone this village is gone too."

Lithuania became the 19th country to adopt the euro on Thursday, hoping that membership in the European Union's official currency will bring a rise in investment and trade. But the Baltic country's increasing integration with richer European countries has also a pernicious side-effect: a wave of emigration that is emptying towns and causing worker shortages.

Emigration has been on the rise since 2004, when this country of 3 million people joined the EU, whose membership guarantees freedom of movement.

During the 2008-2011 financial crisis, more than 80,000 people - almost 3 percent of the population - left every year, mainly to Germany, Britain and other richer economies to earn salaries many times higher. Experts forecast that trend to continue, or even increase.

In the field of construction, business owners complain it is impossible to keep hold of workers, even with massive annual wage increases of 10 to 20 percent. The problem is not confined to rural villages. Most shopping malls, restaurants and businesses in once busy urban areas are increasingly short of labor.

"There's simply no more skilled people left here," says Arvydas Avulis, CEO of Hanner, a leading real estate investor and developer that specializes in high-rise construction.

A quick look at wage figures shows why. A manual worker in Lithuania can expect to earn 1.80 euros ($2.20) an hour compared with 4.30 euros ($5.24) in Spain and 8.60 euros ($10.50) in Ireland, according to the EU statistics agency.

In the more skilled sectors like computing, medicine or the services industry, where Lithuania's educational system produces highly qualified graduates, wage differences are even greater.

In her New Year's speech, President Dalia Grybauskaite said accession to the euro area is "our opportunity to grow and develop as a modern European state, to set ourselves new goals and look firmly to the future."

On Wednesday - the day before the official changeover to the euro - Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius thanked those who introduced the litas back in 1992 and welcomed the incoming euro.