To complete the first phase of the railway project 'Rail Baltica', that is, the main route, 3 to 4 billion euros are lacking, deputies stated at the meeting of the National Economy Commission of the Saeima.
As noted by the chairman of the commission, Kaspars Briškens, without this funding, the first phase of 'Rail Baltica' will not be completed by 2030 and may be postponed until 2050. Several other deputies also expressed confidence that the first phase of the project cannot be completed by 2030.
Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Girts Dubkevics and Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Gatis Silovs stated at the meeting that they cannot specify the exact amount of missing funding, as this information is restricted.
They added that very active efforts are currently being made to attract funding, with the greatest hopes pinned on the next EU multiannual financial framework, which will start in 2028, the Military Mobility Fund, and the European Connectivity Instrument.
According to Silovs, the 680 million euros allocated to Latvia is sufficient for the construction of 52.66 km of railway line.
Construction of the first 33 km is currently beginning.
A representative of the Ministry of Transport agreed that the implementation of the project depends on the available funding - if it is available, the first phase of the project can be completed by 2030; if not, the main line will be built within the existing funding.
Deputies reminded that the entire route still needs to be redesigned, as the current construction project is designed for two tracks.
The chairman of the board of the project implementer in Latvia, 'Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas' (EDzl), Maris Dzelme, reported that EDzl received the project from the joint venture 'RB Rail' only at the beginning of this year. Currently, EDzl is trying to negotiate a redesign with the Spanish company 'Idom', the developer of the existing project. If an agreement cannot be reached, a new competition will be announced.
