The future of the Rail Baltic project was discussed in the Estonian parliament. With Latvia having enough money for only 50 km of the route to the border with Lithuania, and Estonia lacking about one and a half billion euros, politicians are counting on EU assistance, ERR reports.
The budget oversight commission stated that the government is playing with numbers when it talks about plans to finance the construction of Rail Baltic. According to officials, Estonia currently lacks 1.3 billion euros to build the railway to the Latvian border, while the government is trying to exclude these expenses from the budget strategy calculations for the coming years.
"There is complete chaos in the financing of Rail Baltic. The government is bluffing: in the four-year budget strategy, where projected expenses should be accounted for, there is no money allocated for this," said commission chairman Urmas Reinsalu.
The problem is also that Latvia reports a lack of funds to construct the section to the Estonian border. The Latvian Minister of Transport once again confirmed at the commission in the Riigikogu that their funds are only enough to build 50 km of railway towards Lithuania.
"On one hand, we have already invested a lot of funds. On the other hand, we currently lack about one and a half billion euros to complete our section. Now we need to apply for this money from the European Union, but it is unknown whether we will receive it," said Riigikogu member Lauri Laats.
The coalition believes that there is no need to panic, as Brussels will cover all necessary expenses. Funding for the next EU budget period, from which the missing financing will come, will be approved soon.
The cost of the Rail Baltic project has increased by 291% from the initial estimate.
