Kozlovskis Proposes Expanding Rail Baltica Company Board to Four Members

Transport Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) has proposed significant changes to the management of the Rail Baltica project by expanding the board of SIA "Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas" (EDzL) from one to four members. The proposal is part of amendments to the Rail Baltica Implementation Law submitted for review.

Kozlovskis noted that since EDzL's founding in 2014, the board has been replaced 11 times, creating instability and jeopardizing the project's quality. Under the new model, four board members would oversee strategic management, corporate governance, financial oversight, legal affairs, and infrastructure project management. Candidates would be professionals with proven experience in large-scale national projects.

The draft law allows appointing individuals already serving on boards of other state-owned enterprises, provided they passed a competitive selection process. This would enable rapid capacity building at EDzL. Board members would serve two-year terms. Funding for the new model will come from internal resources.

The Ministry of Transport emphasized that frequent board changes since 2014 were linked to project phases and organizational adjustments. In 2026, a single-member board was adopted, but it is now being revised. In July, acting board chairman Mārtiņš Ķeņģis stepped down, replaced by project manager Dāvis Blaus as interim member. In February, former chairman Māris Dzelme resigned. EDzL is fully state-owned with a share capital of €4.445 million.