In criminal proceedings, politicians are also evaluated for possible irregularities in the implementation of the railway project “Rail Baltica”, said Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns in an interview to LTV programme “Kas notiek Latvijā”.
He said, among other things, that he has yet to study all the materials of the case. At the same time, however, he understands that “politicians will be evaluated as well”.
The prosecutor general also added that in accordance with the verdict of the Supreme Court, there must be a causal link between the action and the loss, and the law enforcement officers must prove that the loss occurred as a result of the actions of a particular person. Only then can you talk about the responsibility of the persons.
LETA previously reported that at the end of the inspection in December 2024, the Prosecutor General’s Office initiated criminal proceedings for possible irregularities of the officials responsible for the implementation of “Rail Baltica”.
As LETA was told by the prosecutor’s office, criminal proceedings have been initiated for the fact that the state officials responsible for the implementation of the “Rail Baltica” project may have caused losses to the state budget on a large scale in connection with the construction of the “Rail Baltica” infrastructure facilities.
The criminal proceedings in question were not initiated against any specific official or politician.
In accordance with the decision of the Prosecutor General to establish institutional jurisdiction, criminal proceedings have been transferred to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau.
On the 10th of December 2024, the Latvian government conceptually agreed on the implementation scenario for the first stage of Rail Baltica.
The priority remains to make Rail Baltica’s cross-border connection from the Lithuanian and all the way to the Estonian border in accordance with the plan and available funding, as well as complete construction work on Rail Baltica passenger station at Riga Airport, as well as the southern portion of Riga Central Station at least on a minimal level in order to ensure functionality in accordance with existing railway infrastructure. The transfer option between Rail Baltica and the existing 1 520 mm railway line needs to be completed in Salaspils.
The government has that by July 2025, the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economics must put together and submit a total maximum price ceiling for the project, based on the economic justification of the project, as well as continue to work on proposals for the attraction of additional financial instruments and the continuity of funding for 2026-2028.
The total cost of the project according to the cost-benefit analysis in the Baltics can reach EUR 23.8 billion. In the previous cost-benefit analysis in 2017, it was estimated that the project will cost a total of EUR 5.8 billion.
More on this topic: Rail Baltica wants another EUR 325 million to continue the project