Construction, EU – Baltic States, Funds, Good for Business, Railways, Transport
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Saturday, 20.04.2024, 00:29
Rail Baltica receives next round of funding
The funding was
allocated in the framework of the 2019 CEF Transport Call, which is managed by
the EU’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). The entire eligible
funding made available to Cohesion countries in the Call was EUR 1.1 bn,
and the competition between the Cohesion countries to receive the funding was
very high. In this competitive process, the Rail Baltica corridor has received
the largest financial allocation or 55% from the total available funding of the
2019 CEF Cohesion Transport call. In addition to the EUR 184 mln EU grant for
the Rail Baltica sections in the Baltic States, EUR 422 mln was granted to the
Rail Baltica sections in Poland.
According to the CEF
Committee vote, the Rail Baltica Global project has been allocated EUR 128 mln
for construction works and EUR 88 mln for technical design and planning
works.
“Rail Baltica
appreciates the additional financing made available for the technical design,
planning and construction works. As a result this will provide the necessary
funding for all key Global Project activities in this area, as well as provide
maturity for the construction phase of Rail Baltica. The project is prepared to
scale-up construction activities in all three countries and will apply for
additional funding in the next CEF Transport Calls,” says Agnis Driksna,
Chairperson of the Management Board of Rail Baltica Joint Venture RB Rail AS.
According to the
Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas,
receiving additional CEF financing shows how important Rail Baltica is for Europe.
"The mere fact that Rail Baltica received more than half of the total sum
available from this application call, while competing with dozens of other
applicants, shows how well the project is progressing compared to other
projects. Now we have additional funding to bring Rail Baltica closer to the
people by allowing us to plan and designing our regional stops. Also, we
received additional funds for the construction of Muuga and Ülemiste terminals
and Muuga-Soodevahe railway embankment. However, there is still a lot of
work to be done and even though we did not receive funding for the Vanasadama
tram line, this simply means that we have more time to design it and hope to be
successful with the upcoming applications," said Aas.
Tālis Linkaits, the Minister of Transport of Latvia points
out, “The funding allocated in the framework of the 2019 CEF Transport
Call is another proof that Rail Baltica is more than a railway infrastructure –
it is an economic corridor supporting regional connectivity. The secured funding
allows Latvia to commence the design of regional stations as regional
multimodal interchanges for a better integration of national transport
networks. This will also increase the potential of self-sustainability for Rail
Baltica infrastructure and bring more synergies with local communities and
businesses. In the nearest future we will start discussions with local
municipalities on the exact location of the regional stations as there are
numerous factors to consider.”
Jaroslav Narkevič, the Minister of Transport and Communications
of the Republic of Lithuania said “Allocation of additional funding is the best
acknowledgment of Rail Baltica as the European priority project and the key to
advance its implementation in all partner countries. A higher emphasis on the
construction would have allowed us to push forward the deployment of the main
line towards the Latvian border. However, I remain confident that this will be
reflected in the upcoming calls.”
The Member States and
EU institutions’ decision once again confirms Rail Baltica as one of the key
European flagship infrastructure projects that fully meets all CEF criteria and
contributes to EU, regional and national transport, cohesion, environment as
well as innovation policies. With ongoing design works on 643 km of the main
line and international passenger stations, the project has reached its maturity
and continues to enjoy strong political support. Thus, the project is in a
strong position to proceed with implementation, and it will require additional
funding from the next CEF Transport Calls, and in particular under the next EU
Multi-Annual Financial Framework starting as of 2021, in order to complete the
construction activities on time.
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