On 18 May 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR passed the Law on the Economic Autonomy of the Lithuanian S.S.R., which also provided for the national monetary and credit system.
On 14 December 1989, a contest for the creation of litas and centas designs was announced. A French company François-Charles Oberthur was chosen to print litas banknotes. The designs of litas banknotes created by Lithuanian artists Miknevičius, Pocius, Jonaitis, Mandeika, Bartkus, Tolvaišis and Valantinas were submitted. In the summer of 1990, the designs were sent out. Unfortunately, the contract with this company was not signed. The Bank of France refused to provide credit for the printing of Lithuanian banknotes. It is believed that this happened due to political reasons, more specifically - due to the pressure of the Soviet Union government put on the French government. The designs of the first litas banknotes remained in France. They were only returned to Lithuania 7 years later, in 1997. Nowadays, the designs of litas banknotes are displayed at the Bank of Lithuania’s Money Museum.
