Social responsibility

With support from Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, the Prienai-Birstonas Vytautas basketball club was able to attract the brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball from the USA. The addition of world-class basketball celebrities to the Lithuanian team was an extraordinary event in the history of Lithuanian basketball. The players enriched the club with their experience in American basketball, as well as helped place Lithuanian basketball on the map.

Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, is one of the general sponsors of the longest-standing Lithuanian basketball club Zalgiris. G. Ziemelis has not only supported the team financially but has also provided a business class Boeing 737 aircraft, specifically designed for sports players, for the club when traveling to competitions.

Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, helped revive Lithuanian boxing. He provided financial support to Evaldas Petrauskas, a multiple time Champion of Lithuanian and European boxing as well as 2012 Olympic bronze medal winner. Additionally, support was provided to Tadas Tamasauskas, a multiple time Lithuanian and European prize-winning boxer.

Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, supported Kasparas Navickas‘s participation in one of six championship rounds of the European Rallycross championship. Kasparas is a Lithuanian autocross, rallycross, and Nordic cross-country rally championship participant and winner. In just three years, Kasparas became the rallycross champion of Lithuania and the Baltic States as well as the runner-up of the Nordic cross-country rally championship. He was the youngest participant to win a prize in one of the European Rallycross championship rounds.

In Lithuania, basketball is an extremely important part of the culture. Vanagai BC, a Vilnius based club, has won the Northern European Youth Basketball League trophy and has helped unearth some very talented Lithuanian Basketball players. The global renown player, Jonas Valanciunas, played for Vanagai BC before joining Lietuvos Rytas and then signing a contract with the Toronto Raptors a National Basketball Association (NBA) team.

In 2011, one of the companies managed by Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, became the sponsor of the Wroclaw Slask basketball club.

In 2012, Rimantas Kaukenas, a defender for the NATIONAL Lithuanian basketball team, established the charity and support group Rimantas Kaukenas’s Support Group. The group’s main objective is to help children with oncological diseases by providing moral and financial support to the children and their families. Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, has been one of the most significant sponsors supporting the group since its establishment. He has provided patients with needed medical equipment and non-reimbursed medicines as well as organized activities and entertainment for the children.

The Jiezno Vaikai fund was established in 2002 to meet the needs of orphans and children from at-risk families living in the Jieznas Children‘s Home, Atzalynas Kaunas Orphanage, and Gile Vilnius Children‘s home. Jiezno Vaikai does things such as organize lectures on various topics for the children, provides them with books, arranges trips to theatres, and initiates creative contests. The fund encourages less advantaged children to learn and improve, take an interest in their future, and become self-sufficient. The fund prioritizes education and comprehensive teaching.

For more than 15 years, the charitable foundation Kaimo Vaikai has been initiating and implementing projects aimed at supporting youth in rural areas. The organcization cooperates with the Help for Lithuanian Orphans Committee (USA), R. Somkaite‘s charity foundation (USA), the Lithuanian National Translator‘s TV program “Bedu Turgus,” as well as the municipalities of the country’s cities and villages. Every year the foundation pays for around 30 scholarships for students of Lithuanian universities from poor, at-risk, or socially vulnerable families and orphans. The foundation organizes charitable events to support orphanages, village schools and libraries, private children’s homes, and families with many children or those faced with problems due to natural disasters or accidents. Financial support for summer camps for children and youth in rural areas is also provided by the foundation.

The Vilkaviskis Ausros Gymnasium is a Lithuanian secondary school that was established in 1979. In 2009, it was awarded the status of gymnasium. The goal of the school is to create an attractive and academically appealing environment where students gain the skills needed to succeed and find their place in life.

Endeavoring to enhance guitar music in Lithuania, Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, has provided support to the famous Lithuanian musician Aurelijus Globys for the purchase of a new state-of-the-art instrument.

Aurelijus is a graduate of the J. Tallat-Kelpsa Conservatory. In 1994, he began his career as a Professional musician and has since performed with well-known Lithuanian bands such as Pelenai and OK. He has also participated in the performing art projects Viengungiai and Keistuoliai. In 1996, Aurelijus and his colleague Vladas Kovaliovas, from the band Volis, created a new music Project, Nacija. In 2000, he began his solo career with a focus on promoting Flamenco music and culture both in the country and abroad. Aurelijus often performs with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra‘s virtuoso violinist Zbigniew Lewicki.

Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, financially contributed to the social initiative aimed at collecting funds for the treatment of maestro Vytautas Kernagis, who sadly lost his battle against cancer in 2008.

The charitable Anna Dymna foundation Against the Odds was established in 2003 in Krakow, Poland. The foundation focuses on supporting severely ill and disabled people. To arrange various conferences and gatherings that promote integration and social initiatives, the foundation actively cooperates with non-governmental organizations, state, and medical institutions.

The Full House Community is a Catholic association uniting believers. Its mission is to ensure that a person experiencing troubles in life can find serenity and faith within the community. From evangelism to the release from addictions and preparing for a return to independent life, the association seeks to help and opens the door to finding a path as a servant of God.

The goal of the Adomas Mickevicius Foundation is to support and promote a positive relationship between Lithuania and Poland while developing and strengthening cooperation. One of the main objectives of the Foundation is to evaluate the issues of a strained relationship through the prism of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which once unified the two nations. Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of the Board of Vertas Management, was the general sponsor of the first Jerzy Giedroyc Dialogue and Cooperation Forum and donated 50 000 LTL. Mr. Ziemelis continued supporting the cause through his active support and by helping sponsor the Jerzy Giedroyc award-giving ceremony in 2014.