The Rail Baltica project receives €51.55m for military capacity

On Wednesday, 24 January 2024, the European Commission announced the results of the third call for proposals in the field of military mobility for support from the Connecting Europe Facility (hereinafter – CEF). In total, 38 projects from 18 European Union Member States were supported, including 51.55 million euros allocated to priority activities of the Rail Baltica project in Latvia.

The third call for proposals in the field of military mobility of the CEF in 2023 was announced on 3 May 2023. At the end of the submission deadline on 21 September 2023, there were 112 project proposals submitted to the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), including the Latvian application of the Rail Baltica project, which was prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, Limited Liability Company “Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas” (EDzL), Joint Stock Company RB Rail AS.

Funding of 50% of the eligible costs of the project has been granted to Rail Baltica for the first round of construction work and construction supervision of the combined road and railway bridge over River Daugava, the construction of a new two-level crossing over River Daugava in Salaspils and Ķekava Regional Governments. The combined bridge over River Daugava is one of the most complicated Rail Baltica railway infrastructure objects and plays an important role in the connectivity of the Baltic States with Europe.

The implementation of priority activities of the Rail Baltica project in Latvia will be ensured by EDzL and RB Rail AS, to which the Ministry of Transport has delegated the technical competence of the project. The construction of the bridge is planned to start when the design is concluded and in accordance with the implementation program of Rail Baltica. Expropriation of real estate necessary for the construction of the bridge is underway and has already been partially completed. The construction will be carried out by international business partnership “E.R.B. Rail JV PS”, which will build the Rail Baltica main line in Latvia. In general, the bridge is divided into 3 construction permits, and one plans to start the works in the prioritised construction permit sections by carrying out works in water. This is one of the most time-consuming stages of construction, which involves welded steel trusses, concreting of supports and foundation construction in water.

The signing of the agreement with the CINEA on financing priority activities of the Rail Baltica project in Latvia is expected in June 2024.

Funding for strengthening the military capacity of the Rail Baltica project has already been received in the first call for proposals in the field of military mobility. On 8 August 2022, the Ministry of Transport concluded an agreement with the CINEA for financing priority activities of the Rail Baltica project from the CEF funding for military mobility in the 2021-2027 financial planning period by attracting 5.29 million euros of CEF funding. With the received funding, the design and design supervision of the highway section of the combined bridge over River Daugava, the design of the Salaspils multimodal cargo terminal, as well as the design of the cargo park and its surrounding infrastructure near the Riga International Airport have been ensured.

Funding in the field of military mobility funding is a new form of support for the EU Member States to develop transport infrastructure that serves both civilian and military purposes at the same time. In the EU’s multi-year budget for 2021-2027, there were 1.737 billion euros allocated for CEF funding in the field of military mobility, which were divided into three calls for proposals in 2021-2023. In the first and second calls for proposals, there were 57 projects supported, with 939 million euros allocated for their implementation. In its turn, in the third and final call for proposals, there were 38 projects supported, with funding of 807 million euros. Monitoring of the funding in the field of military mobility is carried out by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.