Latvia. VAS Latvijas Dzelzcels

Date of agreement:17 Jun 2010
Country:Latvia
Customer:VAS Latvijas Dzelzcels
Amount in EUR:EUR 21 million
Maturity:15 years
NACE sector / loan type:Land transport

This loan contributes to climate change mitigation: 100%

Project

The 15-year-maturity loan totalling EUR 21 million has been provided for financing the company’s investment programme for the renewal of the east-west railway corridor in 2010 to 2013. The programme is aimed at improving the capacity and the traffic safety of this railway corridor, which is part of the Trans-European network linking major hubs in Russia and Belarus to the ports of Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja.

The programme includes the construction of a second rail track and the reconstruction of 2 bridges and 5 stations on the 52-kilometre Skriveri-Krustpils section. The upgrade will help increase the throughput capacity of the section by nearly 50%. The programme also includes the renewal of the rail infrastructure and stations on the routes Ventspils-Jelgava-Rezekne and Riga-Krustpils-Daugavpils with a total length of 53 kilometres.

Total project costs of the programme amount to EUR 108 million financed with loans from NIB and the EIB as well as EU funds.

The Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian Railways) group is a fully state-owned company. The group owns the railway infrastructure and operates the cargo freight as well as passenger railway traffic in Latvia.

Sustainability summary

A major environmental advantage of this project is the transferring of freight and passengers from more polluting infrastructure to the railways. Additionally, railway traffic safety will increase, and the emission per person-kilometre and tonne-kilometre as well as the noise level will decrease compared to current railway transportation.

The main environmental issues are land issues, impacts on sensitive areas, contaminations and waste management. All works will be carried out within the existing railway’s right-of-way. One household is to be resettled due to the project. Necessary considerations have been taken and the relocation has not been a controversial issue. No sensitive areas are to be impacted by the project. The risk for identification of contaminated soil is considered limited and the projects are not expected to generate any major volumes of hazardous waste. Latvian Railway has an Environmental Management System. The system is not certified in accordance with any standard.

Press release
17.06.2010

NIB loan to boost capacity of Latvian railway