Baltic, Construction, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Investments, Markets and Companies, Railways, Transport

RB Rail, the Latvia-registered joint venture established by the three Baltic states for coordination of Rail Baltica project, that today Rubesa had her first meetings with Lithuanian Transport and Communications Minister Rokas Masiulis and Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways) CEO Mantas Bartuska to discuss the development of Rail Baltica.

The participants of the meeting voiced commitment to cooperation and a pragmatic coordination of work on the railroad project. Rubesa informed the Lithuanian minister about the railway line's potential role in the development of a new economic corridor in Europe's northeast. The discussions also deal with the project's progress and the three Baltic states' plans for this year, and Lithuania's plans in particular, as well as the additional efforts needed to attract freight and develop Rail Baltica as a business project.

Masiulis noted the necessity to urge EU institutions to earmark long-term allocations for the project, taking into account the current 85% co-funding rate and also including the Vilnius-Kaunas connection in the project.

Pointing to the project's goals, Rubesa said that it is necessary now to demonstrate the project's maturity. The parties also shared their perspectives on the solutions for ensuring the project's effective management. The discussions also focused on financial needs related to construction of the railway line, as well as plans to involve Finland and Poland more actively in the project's implementation.

During her meeting with the Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai management, Rubesa thanked the company's new management for an open and cooperative approach to Rail Baltica project. Bartuska voiced commitment to the project and stressed its significance for the region.

The subjects discussed during that meeting included the Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai vision on the European-gauge railway line's construction, with the emphasis on issues important to Lithuania, coordination of the necessary procedures for construction of the railway line's section connecting Lithuania and Poland and plans for Rail Baltica development in Poland.

The Rail Baltica project seeks to re-establish a direct connection between the Baltic states and the European railway network. The project is expected to facilitate regional integration by means of a railway link from Helsinki that would link Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, Warsaw and Berlin and might potentially be extended to Venice. The EU will help finance the project from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for development of transport infrastructure.

As reported, the European Commission has allotted Latvia EUR 238 mln for the first round of the project, which provides for construction of a railway connection between Riga Central Railway Terminal and Riga International Airport. The total EU funding allocated for the project to all three Baltic states until 2020 is EUR 442.2 mln, which covers 81.83% of total costs.