Estonia will initially ask EUR 191 million from the European Commission for Rail Baltica. Unlike Lithuania, Estonia will not ask for any separate funding besides the joint Baltic project, Rail Baltica’s Estonian project manager Miiko Peris says, reports The Baltic Course.
The European Commission expects by 26 February latest the financial applications of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for building the joint Rail Baltica railway line. While initially the plan was that the joint venture created by the three countries would submit also a joint application, Lithuania announced that it will ask for EUR 30 million through the joint venture, but additionally EUR 165 million separately.
Estonia will continue on the course of the joint application, confirmed the Rail Baltica Estonian project manager Miiko Peris, saying that this is the most beneficial for the joint project. “We have kept this position throughout the course of the negotiations, and in fact, we believe that, eventually, this is what happens,” he said.
Lithuania has already started construction of the Rail Baltica section, which runs from the Polish-Lithuanian border to Kaunas.
Rail Baltica’s estimated cost is approximately EUR 3.6 billion. In Estonia, building the infrastructure should cost EUR 1.1 billion.
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