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

Asked to comment if the October 2 deadline by which CAF is to sign the amendments could be put off by one week, as some media have mentioned, Birkmanis said that his company wanted to move forward and avoid any delays in the procurement of new trains, writes LETA.

The main factor is that the contract must be in line with the procurement conditions, stressed Birkmanis. Only in this case will Latvia receive LVL 100 million from the European Union, which is necessary for buying the new trains.

Whether anyone should be held responsible for the current problems is up to the authorities, added Birkmanis. The current actions of Pasazieru vilciens board will be evaluated by the company's shareholders, he said.

As reported, September 26 Pasazieru vilciens submitted a letter to CAF, where five amendments to the train procurement contract were specified. CAF said that it would be reviewing the amendments through October 2, although this is the day when Pasazieru vilciens contract with CAF expires.

Earlier last week, CAF announced that it was not prepared to sign a new train procurement contract, as proposed by the Latvian side – instead, the Spanish company offers to amend the existing contract, signed on April 2.

The total cost of new 34 electric trains and seven diesel trains that Pasazieru vilciens wishes to buy is LVL 144, of which LVL 100 million will be covered with funds from the Commission's Cohesion Fund, whereas Pasazieru vilciens co-financing will be LVL 44 million. Together with the train maintenance cost, the contract amount may reach EUR 610.76 million (LVL 429.24 million), and the new trains must be manufactured until August 2015.

CAF and Pasazieru vilciens must reach agreement on amending the new train procurement contract by October 2.