News

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/visiting-lithuania published impressions of Sir Richard Branson after his visit to Lithuania: Delightful visit to Lithuania, a wonderful country full of interesting, friendly people.

One of the best things that Boris Yeltsin did was to allow the break-up of the Soviet Union, giving countries like Lithuania their independence back. The people of Lithuania are determinedly getting their country on the right track.

There are lots of well-educated young people here and I met many young entrepreneurs who are setting up forward-thinking international companies focusing upon everything from aircraft maintenance to the internet. We went to see an innovative clean energy project, where they have created a 300-foot hill to produce sustainable energy for the country. They pump water up during non-peak hours and let it down again at peak times to generate electricity.

It was a great pleasure to fly a hot air balloon again, having not been ballooning for several years. We flew over the historic old city and it was fun skimming the balloon over the river. Ballooning is something I recommend everybody to do once in their lifetime. It is so delightful to get away from the hustle and bustle of life, being blown by the wind. A bit like riding a bicycle, if you have learnt to fly a balloon once you never forget. Anywhere in the world there is always the danger of an angry farmer shouting at you when you land, and we had a lady screaming at us when we landed as she milked her cows. We apologised profusely, but balloons have to land somewhere!

It was a lovely surprise to be invited to become an Honorary Doctor at Kaunas University of Technology. Having left school at 15, I have now become an Honorary Doctor of Technology at two institutions, having been recognised by Loughborough University 20 years ago. I feel a bit of a cheat being a Doctor of Technology seeing as I can’t even change a plug, but as we are going to space perhaps I can get away with it! It is an awful lot easier to become a doctor by achieving it outside the university rather than all the hard work it entails to achieve it inside!

Speaking of space, thanks to Future Virgin Galactic Astronaut Vladas Lasas for inviting us to Lithuania and organising a great talk at a leadership forum. I do 20 of these talks a year around the world to raise money for charity and it was fun to share my experiences with so many energised people. Vladas is going to be the first Lithuanian to go to space and he is bringing five of his countrymen up too – it was a pleasure to meet them all. Looking forward to my next trip to Lithuania already.

By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group