Latvia: Rail Baltica construction contract awarded to European JV

Latvia’s state-owned Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL) has awarded a contract to build the Rail Baltica railway in Latvia to the European joint venture, ERB Rail Baltica, for EUR 3.7mn, LSM reports. ERB Rail Baltica was established by France’s Eiffage Génie Civil, Italy’s Rizzani de Eccher, and Poland’s Budimex. EDZL’s procurement commission excluded Türkiye’s IC Ictas Insaat and Dogus Insaat ve Ticaret from the tender, following a recommendation from the State Security Service (VDD). The two Turkish companies had offered to build the railway for EUR 3.2mn. IC Ictas Insaat’s parent group, IC Holding, has been involved in several major construction projects in Russia and Russian atomic energy corporation Rosatom’s project to build a nuclear power plant in Türkiye. The Turkish companies have contested their exclusion from the tender at the Procurement Monitoring Bureau (IUB). Earlier, EDZL exluced a Chinese company from the Rail Baltica project on VDD’s recommendation.