On Friday, January 20, a new Chairman of the Board of the railway line Rail Baltic/Rail Baltica project coordinator, the joint venture of the three Baltic States “RB Rail AS”, was approved. The new chairman is Latvian representative Edvīns Bērziņš, the Chairman of the Board of “Latvijas Dzelzceļš” VAS, who is replacing the previous Chairman of the Board, Lithuanian representative and the Director of “Rail Baltica statyba” Dainius Budrys.
Undertaking the duties of the Chairman of the “RB Rail AS” Supervisory Board Edvīns Bērziņš notes that the main objective of the Supervisory Board is to set up professional and qualified Management Board of “RB Rail AS” consisting of four members in order to ensure effective technical, financial and operational issue management. Likewise it is important to coordinate actions in all three Baltic states ensuring successful Rail Baltic/Rail Baltica project implementation. “The objective of the project is to create successfully functioning European gauge railway line that passes through all three Baltic states. This objective can be achieved only if all of the involved parties have joint understanding, the same level of dedication to work in a coordinated manner while respecting the joint interests of the three countries as well as a professional team,” emphasises E. Bērziņš.
In 2017 the Vice-Chairmen of the Supervisory Board are Anti Moppel, the Estonian representative of the “RB Rail AS” Supervisory Board and the Member of Supervisory Board of “Rail Baltic Estonia” OU, as well as Danielius Dolgich, the Lithuanian representative of the “RB Rail AS” Supervisory Board and the Member of “Rail Baltica statyba” UAB and Chief Legal Officer at Rail Baltica project directorate at “Lietuvas geležinkeliai” AB. The rest of the Supervisory Board is comprised by Latvian representative Vineta Rudzīte, Deputy Legal Director on administrative issues and Head of Secretariat of Presidents’ Council of “Latvijas Dzelzceļš” VAS, Estonian representative Indrek Orav, the CEO of “Rail Baltic Estonia” OU, and the previous Chairman of the Supervisory Board of RB Rail Dainius Budrys.
“RB Rail AS” is a joint venture between the three Baltic States established in October 2014 to ensure railway designing, construction and marketing incl. branding. The Shareholder Agreement stipulates that the Supervisory Board each year is chaired by a representative of a different member state of the joint venture on a rotating basis. In 2017 the country holding the presidency is Latvia. The Supervisory Board is comprised of six members, two members nominated by each shareholder – “Rail Baltic Estonia” OU, “Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas” SIA and “Rail Baltica statyba” UAB.
Edvīns Bērziņš background
Edvīns Bērziņš has MA in Law and MBA degree of the Norwegian–Latvian Professional Master Programme “Innovations and Entrepreneurship” (Riga Technical University, RTU). In 2016, he has graduated the Professional Board Member Education Program at the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance (BICG).
He has been Head of International Relations Department in the Police Academy of Latvia, has worked as Legal Consultant at “Lattelecom” ltd., Head of Legal Department in “Latvijas kuģniecība AS”, has been Member of the Board at “Latvijas kuģniecība AS”. Since 2011, he is a member of the Board at “Latvijas dzelzceļš” VAS. During 2015, Mr. Bērziņš took the position of Interim CEO of the joint venture “RB Rail AS” (project Rail Baltic/Rail Baltica) and now holds the position of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at “RB Rail AS”. Since 2016, he acts as Chairman of the Board at SJSC Latvijas dzelzceļš.
He is also Vice-President of the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK), Presidium Member at the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Member of the RTU Advisory Board, Council Member of the LCCI, Chairman of Latvia-Belarus and Latvia-Kazakhstan Councils of Business Cooperation, as well as Member of the Councillors’ Convent and Member of Law Faculty Dome at Turiba University.