Today, September 7, the Supervisory Board of the joint venture of three Baltic countries approved the basic principles of the Rail Baltic/Rail Baltica procurement model which is core to the Contacting Scheme to be agreed by all three countries. All procurements will be divided in three groups – procurements organised solely by the joint venture, consolidated procurements carried out by the joint venture and procurements carried out by the national implementers under strict joint venture supervision.
During the meeting it was approved that RB Rail AS shall be the Central purchasing body for procurement concerning development of common standards and the research studies necessary for the project, project marketing and business development which are the basis for deciding on the design and construction of the Rail Baltic/Rail Baltica global project.
In order to maximise the potential economies of scale and ensure optimum interoperability, it was agreed to organise consolidated procurement implemented by RB Rail AS with beneficiary representatives represented in the procurement committees (for example, Control, command and signalling infrastructure; Energy infrastructure, construction of cross-border track and track bed sections, and others).
The procurement of the construction of railway sections, passenger terminals or Freight Terminals and similar infrastructure in major stations will be carried out by the national implementers with the joint venture’s participation in procurement committees. RB Rail AS will perform technical, financial and legal audits and on-the-spot visits, as well as request and receive all information and documentation with a view to ensure quality and compliance control.
All procurements will have common procurement standards and guidelines to be defined by RB Rail as well as common procurement documentation templates and a set of minimum requirements for supplier qualifications.
The Supervisory Board agreed on having the Contracting Scheme Agreement for Rail Baltic/Rail Baltica signed by 30 September 2016.
In addition, during the meeting the Supervisory Board agreed on Management Board recruitment in the Baltic by executive search to commence within one month.