On 24th November 2015, joint venture RB Rail AS, which has been founded for the implementation of the Rail Baltic Project, the European Commission and the three Baltic States signed an agreement in Tallinn which shall finance the first construction phase of Rail Baltic with 442 million euros in order to carry out technical investigations, to transfer the lands and to perform and prepare the construction works.
The first construction period for founding the new railway route with a track gauge of 1435 mm running from Tallinn until the border of Lithuania and Poland started with an agreement signed with the European Commission. The railway construction itself should start in five years’ time and by that time it is planned to complete the technical design of the railway, obtain necessary building permits and acquire the lands on which Rail Baltic will be constructed.
According to Tõnis Tamme, board member of the Rail Baltic Business Network and partner of law firm TRINITI in charge of transport and infrastructure matters, advising the preparation of an agreement signed with the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) that administers the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) was another good example of effective implementation of the experience and competencies relating to Rail Baltic. “In recent years, we have carried out an interdisciplinary research that preceded the foundation of Rail Baltic joint venture, we have advised both the negotiations concerning the RB Rail AS shareholders’ agreement and the foundation of joint venture, and the matters relating to financing the railway project.”
