On CFCA’s unilateral withdrawal from project “Development of Tram Infrastructure in Riga”
“Rīgas satiksme” expresses regret over the fact that the Central Finance and Contracting Agency bowed to pressure and is participating in the actual elimination of the “Skanste Tram Line” project, which is one of the largest projects financed by the EU Cohesion Fund. It should be mentioned that there is no fact whatsoever pointing at least at the minimum signs of corruption in any of the procurements related to this project. “Rīgas satiksme” does not have any information about any legal proceedings initiated against the capital society and its partners in Latvia and abroad in relation to possible corruption in procurements of Skanste tram. Even more, “Rīgas satiksme” has stopped all the procurements and invited experts to evaluate technical specifications in order to minimize the likelihood of such circumstances.
“Rīgas satiksme” although rejects reproaches of potential risks related to possible delays, financial capacity of the company or the quality of the project management. At present, the designing of this tramline, which is an important part of Riga public transport system, is being continued. The building works, in turn, may be started only when the building project is ready. The building project is divided in several stages; therefore, building works may be started within the time limits provided for by the project schedule. The amount of real estate necessary for the implementation of the project has been reduced significantly, and there are no major obstacles for the municipality to buy these real estates. The same applies to the procurement procedure of low-floor trams.
Given the above, “Rīgas satiksme” believes that the decision of the CFCA to withdraw from the project is unfounded and not in conformity with actual circumstances and will continue the implementation of the project in its already initiated part. Therefore, if CFCA wants to recover the funds paid out within the project, it will have to turn to the court according to the procedure laid down in the Civil Procedure Law.
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