OREANDA-NEWS. A shipment of euro banknotes was brought with police escort from Vilnius International Airport to the vaults of the Bank of Lithuania today, on 28 July, after noon. It was brought by plane from one euro area country.

‘When in circulation, euro banknotes, as banknotes of other currencies, are worn out; sometimes they get damaged, thus those unfit for use are exchanged into new ones. Therefore the available stocks of euro banknotes need to be replenished. This year, we are doing this for the third time. For security considerations, residents of Vilnius cannot be warned in advance of the time, route, security and other details of cash transportation; consequently, if this causes inconveniences for any drivers, we ask for everybody’s understanding and good will,’ says Deivis Stankevi?ius, Director of the Cash Department at the Bank of Lithuania.

When transporting banknotes, strict safety procedures and requirements are followed, including flying the banknotes during daylight hours, limiting traffic while transporting them to the vaults and other security measures.

The average lifetime of euro banknotes in circulation is 6 to 18 months. The most-used in circulation 5 and 10 euro banknotes wear out the fastest. If banknotes are used less often, say, for saving, they wear out less quickly. The Bank of Lithuania already replenished its stocks several times after providing itself with euro banknotes before the adoption of the single currency of the European Union on 1 January 2015.

Euro banknotes are printed at 16 heavily secured European printing houses accredited by the ECB. Euro banknotes, in coordination by the ECB, are distributed to euro area national central banks and re-distributed, lest they run out or too many of them accumulate.