Baltic states must fight for EU funding for Rail Baltica - Lithuania PM in Riga

VILNIUS - The Baltic states must fight to secure funding for the Rail Baltica project in the European Union's 2028-2034 budget, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Thursday.

"Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania should fight for the 2028-2034 multiannual budget funding (for Rail Baltica). The Connecting Europe Facility is the designated tool for this," Sinkevicius told reporters in Riga on Thursday.

As construction of the European-gauge railway continues, several contractors are in litigation with LTG Infra, the infrastructure arm of the Lithuanian Railways group. Among them is Italian firm Rizzani de Echer, which was building the longest bridge in the Baltics in Jonava before its contract was terminated with approximately half of the work completed.

Transport Minister Juras Taminskas said earlier this week that the project remains under control despite the legal disputes.

Sinkevicius also assured reporters in Riga that construction was progressing despite the obstacles. "Despite what is happening on the ground, I think we see progress; the project is moving forward and is no longer just at the discussion level," the prime minister said.

The total cost of Rail Baltica is now estimated at 23.8 billion euros, up from a 2017 estimate of 5.8 billion euros.

Matiss Paegle, chairman of the supervisory board of the RB Rail joint venture, has warned that construction delays risk the loss of already allocated grants and could result in reduced funding from the next European Union budget cycle.

Rail Baltica is designed to connect Tallinn, Parnu, Riga, Panevezys, Kaunas, Vilnius and Warsaw, with a 392-kilometre section running through Lithuania.

The project is part of the European Union's North Sea-Baltic military mobility corridor. Under European Union law, core trans-European transport network projects must be completed by 2030, with the full network finished by 2050. The line from Tallinn to Warsaw is scheduled to become operational no later than 2030.

However, the European Court of Auditors stated in January that Rail Baltica will not be finished by the 2030 deadline and noted that a final completion date currently does not exist.