Three Baltic States reached an agreement: Vilnius will be part of “Rail Baltica”
At tripartite negotiations on the project “Rail Baltica” joint venture shareholders agreement, held at the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania among Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, an agreement was reached – essentially, Vilnius will be part of the trans-European “Rail Baltica” gauge, Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communications says in its press release.
“I am pleased that the delegates discussed not whether Vilnius should be incorporated in the project but rather how the capital of Lithuania should become part of it. I am convinced that the meeting of the Prime Ministers of Baltic States held in Tallinn and a favorable position expressed by the new Prime Minister of Latvia had a positive impact on this issue” – said Minister of Transport and Communications Rimantas Sinkevičius.
According to the Minister, Lithuania appreciates the fact that, during the first official visit in Lithuania, Prime Minister of Latvia Laimduoda Straujuma expressed support for Lithuanian aim to build the European standard gauge “Rail Baltica” with Vilnius being part of it.
“Issue of integrating Vilnius into the project “Rail Baltica” is being tackled. Estonian delegation proposed a compromise on how to do it technically. The negotiations will be continued in Tallinn at the beginning of March. An agreement was reached also on some other parts of the project; therefore, the list of discussable questions is getting shorter, and we are getting very close on establishing a joint venture” – said Director of Development and International Relations Department Arenijus Jackus.
Currently, the three Baltic States are negotiating the establishment of a joint venture that will coordinate the implementation of the second part of the project “Rail Baltica” – a railway gauge from Kaunas to Tallinn. To apply for EU funding for this part of the project, an application should be submitted by 2016. Lithuania seeks to connect all the Baltic States’ capitals with the trans-European gauge.