Baltic, Construction, EU – Baltic States, Railways, Transport

“All the necessary decisions have been taken on the highest political level, the project’s implementation scheme has been approved, the work schedule is in place and tasks have been delegated, and the shareholders are working accordingly. Of course, there are delays because this is the most complex project in the European Union (EU). But even these delays are not critical,” Linuzs said.

The EDzL CEO explained that the project can only be implemented in all three Baltic countries.

“The countries’ national and the project’s common interests are intersecting in this project, and the shareholders are working to align them. Latvia and Lithuania are the biggest rivals fighting for the freight. There have been no signals or doubts from us, Lithuania or Estonia that the shareholders are not focused on completing the project as scheduled. There will always be some doubts, but they are not critical,” Linuzs said.

Patriks Markevics, director of the Transport Ministry’s Railway Department, said that the proposal to set up an integrated organization for the project’s implementation was very radical, because the Lithuanians and Estonians feel that their control over the project has been reduced.

“This causes the greatest concerns because it affects the national implementation organizations’ interests. The interests of Lithuania’s rail company are often on the verge of infringement. The Lithuanian company believes that a centralized management will restrict their opportunities. If Rail Baltica was based in some other country the situation would be different. Now there are concerns that Riga will be controlling everything. Radical changes in the project’s management have to be made very carefully, taking into account all countries’ interests,” Markevics said.

“We, the shareholders, have to offer the EU a model accepted by all the parties involved in the project. We have to reach an agreement ourselves. The EU will not help with this,” Linuzs said.

The Rail Baltica project is important to the whole region and it will be completed. The disagreements over the implementation model are not threatening the project’s implementation,” Romualds Razuks (Unity), secretary of the Saeima committee’s Baltic affairs subcommittee, concluded after the meeting with EDzL representatives.

Lawmakers at the meeting voiced support for a joint, centralized implementation model for Rail Baltica. They argued that such a model has a number of advantages, as it allows ensuring a more effective management and development, and it is financially more advantageous.

The European Commission, which has pledged to cover 85% of the project’s EUR 5.8 bln costs, has also backed a centralized management of the Rail Baltica project, Razuks noted.

RB Rail is a joint venture set up by Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania to implement the Rail Baltica project, the first rail infrastructure project of this kind in the Baltics. RB Rail is the central coordinator of Rail Baltica.

Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas is a state-owned enterprise tasked with the implementation of the Rail Baltica railroad project in Latvia.