Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė and President and CEO of NIB Andre Kuusvek signed the respective agreement in Vilnius Friday.
„Over thirty years, the bank has granted more than EUR 1.8 billion in loans in Lithuania (&) We greatly appreciate the Nordic Investment Bank’s involvement in financing long-term infrastructure projects of strategic importance to Lithuania, such as the Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal,“ the minister told reporters in the event.
Skaistė also said the bank provides loans on „very favourable“ terms, contributing to the accelerated modernisation and decarbonisation of Lithuania’s railway sector.
Kuusvek highlighted the importance of similar partnerships and investments in the context of Russia’s current aggression against Ukraine and Lithuania’s accession to the Western European railway system.
LTG Group is one of the bank’s biggest clients in the Baltic region, he added.
The loan is necessary for Lithuania to complete the Rail Baltica project by 2028.
LTG Link will buy 15 electric trains between 2025 and 2027. The trains will be put to use in passenger service almost as soon as they arrive in Lithuania.
LTG Link invests nearly EUR 36 million of its funds in the purchase, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide another loan of EUR 100 million.
The Seimas approved the state guarantee to the NIB and the EIB back in June.
„These loans will allow the replacement of non-compliant diesel trains with modern, environment friendly ones. This means that train journeys will become more comfortable, with less pollution. This step will allow not only to replace old Russian rolling stock, but also will significantly contribute to the national and European objectives of the Green Deal,“ said Skaistė.
„Our continuous cooperation with LTG Group companies is greening Lithuania’s transport sector,“ said the NIB president and CEO. „The fleet renewal will not only help LTG Link attract more travellers to choose trains over cars for their journeys, but also allow them to further strengthen the country’s railway integration with Europe.“
Two loans of EUR 100 million will be issued by the NIB and EIB till the end of 2032. The loans to the banks will be repaid by the company itself. 100 % of UAB LTG Link shares are owned by AB Lietuvos geležinkeliai (Lithuanian Railroad Company) (LG), where 100 % of shares of the latter company belong to the Republic of Lithuania represented by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic States, during the implementation of which an electrified European-standard two-track railway will be built, connecting Warsaw, Kaunas, Vilnius, Panevėžys, Riga, Parnu and Tallinn. The total length of the Rail Baltic railway line in the Baltic States is 870 km: 392 km in Lithuania, 265 km in Latvia, and 213 km in Estonia.