Latvian State Real Estate to sign border infrastructure construction contracts close to 2022

Latvian State Real Estate (VNĪ) has received an order from the Saeima to establish border infrastructure along Latvia’s external border. The company has already performed a number of preparations and will commence cooperation with other sides outlined by the Saeima to implement the project successfully, says VNĪ board chairman Renārs Griškevičs.
According to the Saeima’s approved amendments to the Law on the Country’s External Border Infrastructure, VNĪ will manage and monitor all work related to the construction of border infrastructure, execute procurements and sign new contracts. The Provision State Agency is to inform land owners and work together with Latvian State Forests to clear the land of trees and bushes to prepare the landscape for construction. The project will be monitored and coordinated by the External Border Infrastructure Monitoring Committee.
«The eastern border infrastructure project will serve as an indication of how well institutions are able to work with one another. For this to succeed, we need all institutions to prepare an action plan and coordinate their activities. VNĪ has already commenced the necessary preparations and surveys to ensure construction can commence,» says Griškevičs.
«To speed up the project, we have plans to implement it in several stages running in parallel with multiple contractors involved. This will help reduce the risk of delays.»
Meetings are happening with all sides involved in the project – Nature Protection Office, State Environment Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Procurement Monitoring Bureau, State Border Guard, Provision State Agency, State Construction Control Bureau, and others.
The state company has also surveyed Lithuania’s solution. Work is underway to compose a list of possible procurement participants.
As part of the project it is planned to build border infrastructure along 173 km. This includes a fence along 136 km of the border. The project is financed from the state budget and the total indicative financing amount is EUR 28 million.