Opinion piece. Author: Ilona Bērziņa
The Tuesday, the 27th of November, meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers was not the first time when Prime Minister Evika Siliņa had to pull Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens back on solid ground in the context of Rail Baltica project.
Let’s not forget that the PM said at the beginning of November that he [Briškens] “has until the budget’s approval to demonstrate a result”. However, thee is still no realistic result and we are unlikely to see one in the foreseeable future.
Latvia is having enormous problems with Rail Baltica. The main one is the lack of financing. There is also the issue with untimely organisation of work. Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens, meanwhile, continues sticking to the idea that it is definitely necessary to build the Riga connection in the first stage of Rail Baltica project. When it comes to this issue, the minister resembles a capricious child, kicking and screaming at his mother, completely convinced he will get what he wants.
But the main railway track is not moving forward. Latvia has become the weak link because of this. It would be incredibly shameful if Lithuania and Estonia complete their portion of the track, and Latvia is left with nothing to show except the connection between Riga Central Railway Station and Riga airport. There are oddities here, however. According to one of the version, the airport terminal is compatible with European gauge or 1 435 mm track, whereas construction of a Russian 1 520 mm gauge railway track is 8 cm short. A different version suggests the situation can be adapted, and the lacking 8 cm can be compensated at the expense of the embankment, by diverting something there, re-applying and rebuilding.
What is worth keeping in mind is that this application will likely mean more unforeseen and growing costs, after which everyone will clap their hands and shrug their shoulders.
It’s unlikely anyone except “Progressives” still believes Kaspars Briškens is the right man that will bring Rail Baltica to completion. However, the Prime Minister does not seem to have room to maneuver when it comes to replacing the failing minister. Let’s go back to what the head of “Progressives” Saeima faction Šuvajeva said: “Every minister of the “Progressives” is a matter of the coalition’s stability.” This means the head of the government has nothing else to do other than continuing arguments with Briškens during meetings of the government to prevent more resources from being wasted. This is ore akin to an impossible mission, because there are many unanswered questions. The most important issue now is – what are we supposed to do with the unfinished stations in Riga and the airport? The European Commission will not grant money to finish all them. We don’t even know if the European funding provided for other projects is even allowed to be used on this. And it is less likely Europe will ignore frivolous use of its money. There is the option to freeze construction, but it will cost additional funding. Did the people who made the decision not know Europe would not pay for it? Did it happen in Latvia on the “maybe it’ll work” principle, which is more characteristic to Latvia’s eastern neighbour?
It seems that no one among Rail Baltica’s implementers is hot or cold over the fact that the money of European and Latvian taxpayers is being pointlessly wasted. The general impression is that everyone is confident that it will be possible to pull more funding from European funds under their nose and use that money to built something as unnecessary as the supports in Daugava River. But what happens if Brussels sends us three houses down the road with our growing appetites and request a return of the money we’ve already spent on project needs that have nothing to do with the main track? Did no one even consider such a scenario? Were the people involved in the project from the Ministry of Transport, RB Rail and European Railway Lines too absorbed by their wages, bonuses and who knows what else to consider what Europe pays for and what it doesn’t?
We have a talent for taking European money – not so much with implementation of projects. For example, there is the story about the new, improved passenger platforms Latvian Railway so proudly announced just a couple of years ago. We have new ViVi trains and new platforms, so all those interested would be able to board them. It was planned to build and modernise 48 new platforms by the end of 2023. However, only 19 have been raised so far.
The fact that this project has become 15% more expensive is not much of a surprise to anyone – we’re not spending our own money – it’s European and state money that we’re spending. Taxpayers’ wallets can withstand anything!
The raised platforms at nine railway stations are intended to be used as part of Rail Baltica. This includes Riga. So far we’ve been presented with a shocking solution – 55 cm tall wooden structures built on top of the low platforms. We have yet to hear how much this will cost or how dangerous it could become if adverse weather conditions ruin it. Having low platforms is an insignificant problem when looking at the overall landscape of problems. Nevertheless, this “minor details” demonstrates the general attitude towards the project.
Going back to Rail Baltica, we could suggest a solution that would at least reduce the amount of nonsense in the project. Make the Minister of Transport and well-paid supervisors of the project financially responsible for the project’s implementation. Did you make a bad decision for the country? Pay for it out of your own pocket.
Such an approach would not only clear the project of incompetent, arrogant donkeys, but also slow down the flow of money on all sides. Because it is one thing to try to put a roof on a house even before laying the foundation for European money, and quite another – to do this for your own house.