After the restoration of independence, Lithuania faced a rather difficult task: in a period of several years it hadto catch up with the democratically, economically and socially developed countries of the western world that hadsucceeded to achieve their present level over many decades. The ambition to produce fast results preconditioneddifferent problems in a number of political spheres.The creation of the regional policy was not an exception either. Despite the fact that quite a speedy improvementof the regions shows a positive progress in this sphere, problems could not be avoided in the process offormation and implementation of the regional policy. Hesitation in solving these problems may bring the situationunder threat.The article analyses factors that have contributed to the problems in the sphere of regional policy, and stressesthe significance of regionalism on the regional development.