Joint audit of Baltic States on implementation of Rail Baltica project has begun

RIGA - The State Audit Office, together with the supreme audit institutions of Estonia and Lithuania, has launched a performance audit of the implementation of the Rail Baltica railway project, the State Audit Office told LETA.

The audit was launched to assess whether the project is being implemented effectively, ensuring that its objectives are achieved on time. This audit will focus on the management of construction procurement and contracts to ensure their cost-effectiveness.

Martins Abolins, a member of the State Audit Office Council, emphasizes that Rail Baltica is one of the most important infrastructure projects in the Baltic region, the implementation of which has so far been complex and associated with significant challenges in terms of costs, deadlines and management.

"That is why, in this audit, in cooperation with the supreme audit institutions of Estonia and Lithuania for the third time, we want to provide an independent assessment of whether the project is progressing towards its objectives in an effective manner and in the public interest, and whether the problems identified previously are being addressed," says Abolins.

The audit will focus on whether the procurement and contracts for the first phase of the Rail Baltica project are being organized effectively and whether the risks associated with their implementation are being properly managed.

It will also analyze whether the financing for the first phase of the project is adequately secured and whether the problems identified in the joint audit conducted in 2019 and the joint situation analysis conducted in 2024 are being addressed.

The audit will cover RB Rail as the joint implementer of the Rail Baltica project, and at the national level in Latvia - the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance, Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas and the national rail company Latvijas Dzelzcels.

The audit will cover the period from 2022 to mid-2026, and its results are expected in early 2027.

As reported, according to RB Rail, the cost of the first phase of the Rail Baltica project in the Baltics could reach EUR 14.3 billion, including EUR 5.5 billion in Latvia, but there is potential to save up to EUR 500 million by optimizing technical solutions, as well as cutting other costs.

The total cost of the project could reach EUR 23.8 billion in the Baltics according to the cost-benefit analysis. A previous cost-benefit analysis in 2017 estimated the total cost of the project at EUR 5.8 billion.

The Rail Baltica project will build a European standard gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border to connect the Baltic States with other European countries by rail. A new 870-kilometer European-standard (1,435 mm) railway line with a maximum train speed of 240 kilometers per hour will be built in the Baltic States.