A report of the Latvian government’s internal review commission on the progress of the Rail Baltica railway project has revealed that the state-owned company, Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas, failed to consult independent experts on important decisions, LETA and LSM reported. The commission report analysed two suspended construction projects on a railway bridge across the Daugava river and a railway overpass in Marupe. During a government meeting to discuss the report, the Ministry of Transport was criticised for poor project management. Economy Minister Viktors Valainis noted that government decisions had been ignored, and he called on the government to consider the reorganisation of the Ministry of Transport. Prime Minister Evika Silina insisted that the building contractors must be stripped of control over the two projects. She questioned if it was “appropriate at all” that the project’s coordinator, RB Rail, was independent and not subject to government decisions.
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