Rail Baltica issues should be tackled at EU level: Nauseda

Rising costs and delays to the Rail Baltica project must be addressed at the European Union (EU) level, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday.

Nauseda made the remarks at a joint press conference in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported.

"The Rail Baltica project (...) is moving ahead a bit slower than we planned. As a result, the project's costs are higher than planned. I believe this is one of the issues that we could address together with the European Union," Nauseda said.

Rail Baltica will connect Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, Vilnius and Warsaw, and includes a 392-km stretch in Lithuania.

In a report published in June, audit institutions from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia said that an additional 10-19 billion euros could be needed to implement the planned works in the three Baltic states, including 8.7 billion euros in Lithuania alone.

"The Rail Baltica project's progress is at risk because its estimated cost has quadrupled over seven years and the project's size could lead to a budget deficit of 10-19 billion euros," said the auditors.

Lithuanian Transport Minister Marius blamed RB Rail, the pan-Baltic venture set up for the Rail Baltica project, for the slow and costly construction of the railway.

According to the ministry, the entire project should be completed by 2030, while the connection between Lithuania and Poland is expected to be completed by 2028.