31.07.2013
Last night, representatives of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland reached an agreement in Brussels to establish a joint company, Rail Baltic. The joint declaration must be signed by the transport ministers of the five other countries at an informal transport council meeting in Vilnius in September.
The aim of the Rail Baltic Joint Venture is to coordinate the preparatory work necessary for the construction of the railway, including preparing project funding applications to the European Commission, participating in the harmonisation of legislation, drawing up the Rail Baltic business plan, spatial planning of the railway, conducting studies, promoting the project more widely, etc. The joint venture established on such a basis creates the prerequisites for the project to receive European Union funds. It was agreed that in each Baltic state, the infrastructure of the Rail Baltic Joint Venture will initially remain with the specific country on whose territory the railway is located. Each shareholder will contribute 0,65 million euros each year for the next four years.
According to Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts, the agreement reached as a result of the negotiations is very welcome. The company created by the shareholders' agreement will initially belong to the three Baltic states, but the declaration leaves the possibility for Finland and Poland to join the company. Rail Baltic is a conventional high-speed railway from Tallinn to the Polish border, with a designed speed of 240 km/h. No existing railway lines will be brought under the joint venture.
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