22 May 2013

NIB lends for upgrade of east-west railway corridor in Latvia

NIB and Latvia’s state railway company VAS Latvijas Dzelzcels have signed a new loan totalling EUR 17 million for the upgrade of a railway section in the country’s east-west transport corridor.

The loan’s tenor is 10 years. The company will build a second track on the 52-kilometre Skriveri–Krustpils section of the east-west railway corridor that links Russia and Belarus with Latvia’s ports on the Baltic Sea. Transit of freight from and to Russia and Belarus comprise the largest part of freight traffic via the east-west corridor, which is part of the Trans-European network. The modernisation of the corridor will increase its freight throughput capacity.

“The economic effect of this investment will be the reduction of transit costs for a large region, including NIB’s member countries. Environmentally, the development of railway infrastructure helps crowd out fossil-fuelled road transport and improves traffic safety,” says Henrik Normann, NIB President & CEO.

“Latvijas Dzelzcels actively invests its own capital and EU funds in the modernisation of the railway infrastructure in Latvia. International financing makes up a very substantial part of these investments. We appreciate that the Bank highly values our results and the significance of the project for both the company and the country. We have been cooperating with NIB for many years and we hope that the joint effort in the current project will be a success,” says Aivars Strakšas, Vice-President of Latvijas Dzelzcels.

The Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian Railways) Group includes the parent company VAS Latvijas Dzelzcels and five subsidiaries that provide railway cargo and passenger transportation, maintenance of the railway infrastructure and servicing of the rolling stock.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact
Mr Vilius Girkontas, Senior Manager Origination, at +358 10 618 0240,

Mr Dimitrijs Alehins, Senior Communications Specialist, at +358 10 618 0296,

Related resources

21 May 2013

VAS Latvijas Dzelzcels

EUR 17.1 million