On February 19, Rimantas Sinkevičius, Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, and Anrijs Matiss, Minister for Transport of Latvia, signed a letter to the European Commission in which they confirmed that the countries support the Rail Baltica project, the Ministry’s press center says. The letter is also expected to be signed by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications of the Republic of Estonia. At the meeting, the Ministers also discussed the project’s financing model.
“We with the Latvian Minister have harmonized our positions on the project’s financing model. Lithuania will ask European Commission to provide the biggest part of the funding i.e. around EUR 160 million directly to our country. Whereas, the joint venture of the three Baltic States based in Riga will apply for another EUR 30 million for design and construction works”, said Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevičius.
According to the Minister, Lithuania will submit its application separately as the joint venture would not be able to purchase the land for public needs. In addition, Lithuania aims to keep the value-added tax paid for the work performance in the country.
The application to the European Commission should be submitted by the 26th February. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will apply for a total of EUR 620 million in support under the program CEF (Connecting Europe Facility).
Currently, Lithuania is constructing the European gauge railway line “Rail Baltica” from the Polish-Lithuanian border to Kaunas. The works should be completed already this year. The joint venture of the three Baltic States, established last autumn, will coordinate the implementation of the project from Kaunas via Vilnius to Riga and Tallinn. It is expected that the construction works will start in 2019.