The Baltic joint venture RB Rail requires another EUR 4.091 million (not including VAT) to cover expenses in the Latvian leg of the system this year. LETA learned about this from the RB Rail board chairman, Marko Kivila.

Kivila explained that this year the RB Rail budget amounts to EUR 37.966 million, excluding VAT. The Latvian share is EUR 8.542 million.

Currently an additional EUR 4.091 million is needed from Latvia, while EUR 3.236 million is the cost of VAT. The joint venture budget has been approved by the other two Baltic states.

“The RB Rail budget is governed by an international project management agreement which sets out the functions which RB Rail provides to the Rail Baltica project,” Kivila says. “These functions constitute budgeted costs and can only be reduced if all three countries agree.”

At the same time, the board chairman noted that RB rail has received EUR 3.345 million, which is almost one-half of the needed money. Latvia’s government voted to release the tranche on February 11, and discussions continue on the other half, which is around EUR 4 million.

“The Latvian government decided in February to finance Latvia-specific costs which will benefit Latvia, while the rest of Latvian co-financing for the joint activities has not yet been approved,” Kivila notes.

The businessman explained that the European Union is contributing 58% of the cost of the RB Rail budget, while Latvia adds 18%, and Lithuania and Estonia contribute 12% each. “Even a small reduction in co-financing in Latvia would result in a significant reduction in the overall budget,” he adds. “This would also affect services in other countries, as funding from Latvia is used as a leverage mechanism.”

Kivila also said that Latvia’s share of co-financing in 2025 was already cut by 25%, which means that it would be hard to reduce costs further this year. They are based on the previously approved budget, and there have been no decisions on discontinuing the relevant activities.

In summary, Kivila noted that RB Rail is mostly financed by the EU, Estonia and Lithuania, but most of its staff and expenditures are in Latvia, so RB Rail’s contribution to the Latvian economy is exponentially higher than co-financing from Latvia.

Thus the RB Rail CEO is calling for further clarity from Latvia’s government on the provision of the necessary funding as soon as possible.

Source: BNS

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