RIGA - The timeline for implementing the Rail Baltica railway project in Latvia will depend on the speed of decision-making and the financing strategy, Ojars Daugavietis, a board member and chief financial officer of the Baltic joint venture RB Rail, said Wednesday in an interview with TV3.
At the same time, he emphasized that the project’s implementation in Latvia is being hindered by a "witch hunt" - that is, because of the fear that investigations might begin and culprits might be sought, decisions are being made very cautiously and slowly. "This culture does not help the project move forward," said Daugavietis.
He noted that there is currently a great deal of public discussion about when the project will be ready, but the European Commission (EC) deadline remains unchanged, and the project must be implemented by 2030. Estonia, for its part, is moving in this direction, while Lithuania is working as quickly as it can; the question is how far behind schedule it will fall, but on the Latvian side there are quite a few issues, and progress is slow enough to cause a delay.
"We have heard 2035 and 2034 mentioned publicly. Those are also our estimates, but it depends on how quickly decisions are made and what the project’s financing strategy is," said Daugavietis, adding that 2035 could be the target year if the project is implemented as a public-private partnership (PPP), but if another financing strategy is chosen-such as borrowing funds-then the timeline could possibly be shorter.
"We have a contractor. In that sense, Latvia is in a pretty good position," added Daugavietis.
He also noted that delaying decisions reduces the project’s chances of securing funding, as costs-including those driven by inflation-rise every year.
"Every time the political makeup, the government, or the ministers change, we take a small step backward and try to resolve all of this all over again," noted Daugavietis, emphasizing that the uncertainty is slowing down work that has already begun.
As reported, according to project implementer 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.
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.
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