COVID 19 įtaka Lietuvos įmonių ekonominiam saugumui

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes to each country's economy. The everincreasing number of cases, the lack of equipment and supplies, and the disruption of production and services have led to strong measures to stop the spread of the virus. The pandemic affected not only the health system but also the stability, social and economic life of the regions. It has also had political and security consequences, disrupting education, mobility, tourism, and leisure. New patterns of consumer behavior and consumption have emerged. Unprecedentedly low or staggeringly high demand, depending on the category, distorted supply chains, changed jobs, social isolation, all these changes, including bans and restrictions, have been the driving forces for companies to rethink their organizations ’strategies. The main purpose of this article is to analyze how the COVID 19 pandemic affected the economic security of Lithuanian companies, which are the main driving force of the economy. What impact did the pandemic have on the Lithuanian economy and the business dynamics of organizations? The importance and role of economic security in the activities of each state. The article also discusses key measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. Using research methods, scientific literature and statistical data, a comparative analysis was performed to assess the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on Lithuanian organizations. Based on the results of the study, it can be stated that in the context of the European Union, Lithuania would be the country least affected by the pandemic. Although in 2021. There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of the year about the future course of the pandemic and its management, but the economy grew faster than expected. The volume of industrial production increased, retail and international trade grew. Despite the pandemic, growth was maintained in the manufacturing, wholesale, and retail sectors. The impact of the pandemic was felt most in the services sector - accommodation and food service activities, arts, entertainment and recreation, service and administrative activities. The pandemic also had a significant impact on the stability of existing businesses. The announcement of quarantine, suspension or restriction of the activities of organizations affected the income, profit and business continuity of companies. In Lithuania in 2021, although the country was affected by a pandemic, there were 816 more economic entities (excluding natural persons engaged in economic activities) than in 2020. By economic sector, most entities were active in the service sector, industry, construction, and agriculture. Most of the operating entities were small enterprises with 0-4 or 5-9 employees. From 2020 By 2021, the number of enterprises operating during the year increased by 0.8%, while in 2019. - 2020 During the period, this figure was 2.18 percent. The growth of the smallest enterprises with 0-4 employees had the largest positive impact on the growth of the last year, while the number of enterprises with 5-9 employees had a negative impact. In the face of the COVID - 19 pandemic, the establishment of legal entities continued to grow. During 2020 The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (non-financial enterprises without natural persons engaged in individual activities) increased by 6%. During the same period, the number of deregistration’s was significantly lower - 27 percent. companies. To ensure the economic security of companies, great attention should be paid to improving the efficiency of the company's activities, which leads to the creation of new jobs, better employment, better living standards, economic growth, better protection of society from social and economic threats.