The Ministry of Transport has prepared a closed report on the construction schedule of the first phase of Rail Baltica and the capital costs of the project; however, its content is not disclosed to either the deputies or the public under the pretext of 'sensitive information'.
Key facts about the first phase of Rail Baltica are classified for the public because there is 'sensitive information'.
The Ministry of Transport has prepared a closed report on the construction schedule of the first phase of Rail Baltica and the capital costs of the project; however, its content is not disclosed to either the deputies or the public under the pretext of 'sensitive information'.
On Wednesday, the commission reviewed requests from deputies of the opposition 'United List' to Prime Minister Evika Silina ('New Unity') and Minister of Transport Aitis Švinkis ('Progressives') regarding the implementation of the Rail Baltica project. Both requests were rejected.
In the request, the deputies asked for clarification on why the Ministry of Transport has not submitted an informational report to the government on the construction schedule of Rail Baltica by March 2025, when the government will consider the maximum allowable funding for the project, and what the further funding plans are.
The ministry informed the deputies that the report on the construction schedule of the first phase and capital costs within Rail Baltica was prepared for official use on September 26 and submitted to the State Chancellery, and on October 20, it was sent for approval to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice.
When asked why the document is classified, the parliamentary secretary replied that it contains 'sensitive information that cannot be disclosed'.
He stated that the ministry is currently addressing various operational issues related to the project. Additionally, funding of 114 million euros has been reallocated from the EU Recovery Fund for work at the Riga Central Station, and funding of 224 million euros from the Cohesion Fund for the construction of a connection between the station and Riga Airport along the existing railway track. Furthermore, an assessment is being conducted on the possibilities of applying a public-private partnership (PPP) model for the construction of certain sections of Rail Baltica.
In a letter from the Ministry of Transport to the commission, it is indicated that during the consideration of the budget project for 2026, the Saeima supported the allocation of additional resources for Rail Baltica - 8 million euros for redesigning building permits and developing solutions for optimizing the construction of the southern section of the main route from the Lithuanian border to Misa, in order to stay within the available budget. According to the ministry's calculations, redesigning will optimize construction costs by approximately 200 million euros and reduce future budget burdens.
The ministry reports that attracting the missing funding for subsequent stages of construction is planned from the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and resources from the Cohesion Fund, which will be available from 2028. At the same time, to accelerate the implementation of the project and continue construction in areas where EU funds are currently unavailable, work continues on the PPP model, particularly considering the possibility of implementing the construction of the main route section from Skulte to the Estonian border on a PPP basis.
As reported, the cost of the first phase of Rail Baltica in the Baltic countries is estimated at 14.3 billion euros, including 5.5 billion euros in Latvia, with potential savings of up to 500 million euros through the optimization of technical solutions and other measures.
The total project expenses could reach 23.8 billion euros, while in 2017 they were estimated at 5.8 billion euros.
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