Thomas Östros becomes Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ILTE
Thomas Östros, an experienced banking and financial expert and member of the Supervisory Board of ILTE, takes over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ILTE. Daina Kleponė, who has been Chairman until now, will continue to act as a Member of the company's Supervisory Board and Remuneration and Appointments Committee and will contribute to ensuring the strategic continuity of the Supervisory Board's activities. The decision on the election of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board is taken by the members of the Supervisory.
"On behalf of the Ministry of Finance and personally, I would like to thank Daina Kleponė, who has been the Chair of the Supervisory Board of ILTE until now, for her leadership in the successful implementation of the truly challenging task of consolidating the four Lithuanian national development institutions. We also welcome the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Thomas Östros, who has extensive experience working in international financial institutions and we hope that this experience and leadership will contribute to the transformation of ILTE into a strong, internationally recognised National Development Bank," Minister of Finance Kristupas Vaitiekūnassays.
Mr Östros has a solid experience working in international financial institutions: from 2020 to 2025, he served as Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, where he was responsible for energy, health and life sciences, and development finance. He was Executive Director of the Nordic-Baltic Group of the International Monetary Fund from 2016 to 2020 and an alternate Executive Director of the Group from 2015 to 2016.
In the past, T. Östros was the head of the Swedish Bankers' Association. T. Östros was Swedish Minister for Industry and Trade from 2004 to 2006, Minister for Education and Science from 1998 to 2004 and Minister for Fiscal Affairs and Vice-Minister of Finance from 1996 to 1998.
“The transformation of ILTE into a national development bank is a fundamental turning point in the organisation’s activities. I am grateful to my colleagues on the Supervisory Board for their trust and I am ready to contribute to the overall objective of building a national development bank in line with international standards with my experience gained in the international financial institutions. Working together, we will strive for ILTE to continue to grow as a partner for business and the state at every stage of the economic cycle and to grow as a modern institution that is open to local and international partnerships and effectively fulfils the state's mission," Mr Östros states.
“During the first three years of this mandate, we have taken an important path together with the team, with the successful consolidation of four agencies resulting in the birth of a new organisation, ILTE, which is significant for the Lithuanian economy, and the plan for its transformation into a national development bank has been prepared and being implemented. The implemented changes did not stop the steady growth of activity: in 2025 alone, the funding provided by ILTE to the Lithuanian economy almost tripled. The Supervisory Board of ILTE has gained strong competences, so now is the best time to transfer the position of Chairman of the Board. I believe that Tom's experience and contacts with international financial institutions will be an undoubted advantage in the further stage of ILTE transformation," Daina Kleponėsays.
As ILTE's shareholder, the Ministry of Finance, has been consistently implementing the transformation of the National Development Bank, two new experts with significant international experience were additionally elected to the company's Supervisory Board in 2026. Currently, the Supervisory Board of ILTE is composed of independent members Thomas Östros, Daina Kleponė, Aivaras Čičelis, Eugenijus Piškės, Susan Marie Goeransson, Pascal Lagarde, as well as civil servants - Irma Patapienė, seconded by the Ministry of Finance, Povilas Kriaučeliūnas, representative of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, and Aurimas Saladžius, representative of the Ministry of Environment.
The Ministry of Finance, as a shareholder of ILTE, has a very clear task for this institution: to mobilise and inject EUR 6 billion in investments into the Lithuanian economy over a period of 4 years. It is envisaged that ILTE will operate in accordance with the supervisory requirements applicable to banks, corporate governance and management bodies will be strengthened.
The four-year term of office of the ILTE Supervisory Board began on 7 April 2023.
The shareholder of ILTE is the State of Lithuania, which owns 100% of the shares of the company, and the rights and obligations of the shareholder are implemented by the Ministry of Finance.
Last updated: 22-04-2026
Related news:
S&P Global Ratings confirmed Lithuania’s credit rating
Defence bonds were distributed for EUR 80.5 million across recent issues