The representatives of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland reached an agreement on Tuesday in Brussels to set up a joint company to oversee the planning and construction of the Rail Baltic high-speed rail project.
Rail Baltic work group agrees on founding joint company
31st July 2013, 16:32
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The joint declaration has to be signed by the transport ministers of the five countries in September at an unofficial meeting of the Transport Council in Vilnius, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications said.
The new company will coordinate preparatory works including drawing up an application for European Union funding, harmonizing national legislation, creating a business plan, doing spatial planning and carrying out the necessary studies, among other tasks.
This joint venture which will leave the ownership of the Rail Baltic infrastructure to the nations not the company, was a precondition for attracting EU funding. Every shareholder will invest 650,000 euros a year in the next four years.
According to the Estonian Minister of Economy and Communications, Juhan Parts, the agreement resulting from the negotiations is definitely good news. The company founded with a shareholders' agreement would belong to the three Baltic states at first but the declaration leaves an opening for Finland and Poland to join the venture later on.
Rail Baltic is a conventional and high-speed railway stretching from Tallinn to the border of Poland, the planned speed of which would be 240 kilometers per hour. No existing railways will be joined with the venture.