Financing of Rail Baltica still under question

  • 2012-05-21

TALLINN - European Commission's Deputy President and Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said on Friday in Tallinn that while work on the Rail Baltica project in working groups, including in Poland, is progressing well, project’s financing is still under question, Aripaev.ee/LETA reports.

The financing is connected to the EU financial framework for 2014-2020. A financial instrument of uniting Europe, in the volume of around 50 billion euros is planned there that would finance pan-European larger transport, energy and IT structure projects but there are major disputes over that, Kallas said.

A major question for Estonia is whether 10 billion euros of Cohesion Fund will be included in the new instrument. All other states getting finances from the Cohesion Fund besides Estonia are opposed to it, hoping that then this money could be used to finance other projects. Kallas said that this might not be correct.

“We are waiting for the solution to the budget. If that ten billion is not included there, it is very hard to imagine the project (Rail Baltica – ed.) becoming reality,” said Kallas.