EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Lithuania, Railways, Transport

"The attempts by the RB Rail chief to build an impression of alleged conflicts among the company's shareholders are fully unfounded. There are only disagreements with the RB Rail chief who has lost confidence and whose actions affect the reputation of the project. Currently, all project partners in all three Baltic countries are cooperating closely to implement the project successfully and in time," Karolis Sankovskis, deputy chairperson of RB Rail supervisory board and CEO of Rail Baltica Statyba (Rail Baltica Construction), the Lithuanian shareholder of the joint venture, said in a press release.

"The unity and close cooperation fostered by the project partners who well understand the importance and benefits of the strategic project will not be affected by Rubesa's statements," he added.

Sankovskis emphasized that all the work in Lithuania was going as planned, while some of the work within RB Rail's competence was slightly behind schedule. Elimination of the delays requires strong project coordination, and lack of such coordination was one of the reasons behind the no-confidence vote in the RB Rail chief.

At a meeting of RB Rail shareholders in early February, Estonian and Lithuanian representatives expressed lack of confidence in Rubesa, while Latvia abstained. Riia Sillave, CEO of Rail Baltic Estonia, the Estonian shareholder in the company, then said that shareholders were not happy with Rubesa's performance and wanted change.

Meanwhile, Rubesa decided to stay on, adding she had been faced with resistance from some members of the company's supervisory council. In her words, some shareholders may have disliked her principles of management.