New Govt wants to study details of Rail Baltica project – TranspMin

“The Latvian and Estonian governments have been in office somewhat longer than our government has. So, it is normal that we still need to study the details of the project,” he told BNS.

The minister would not say if the government might do so before the prime minister’s scheduled visit to Tallinn on January 31.

Masiulis thinks that it is quite realistic to reach an agreement until the spring, saying that Lithuania will do its best to study the details of the deal as quickly as possible.

“I believe it’s quite realistic, because we are making efforts to analyze it within this month,” he said.

It was reported earlier that the three Baltic prime ministers planned to sign an agreement on the timeframe, route and other technical parameters of the Rail Baltica project in Tallinn on January 31.

However, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Monday that he was not sure if he would sign the document as his government had not had enough time to study it in detail.

Baiba Rubesa, chairwoman of the management board at the Baltic joint venture RB Rail, said last November that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia should reach an agreement within six months, which would make it easier to prove to the European Commission that the project was making headway. This would be help to apply for funding for the project after 2020.