On 31 January 2023 the shareholders of Rail Baltica joint venture RB Rail AS, Rail Baltic Estonia OÜ, SIA Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas and Rail Baltica statyba UAB appointed Arnis Kākulis to the Supervisory Board of the company.
He is replacing representative of Latvia Anrī Leimanis, who was appointed to the Management Board of RB Rail AS in the capacity of Chief ESG Officer and Vice-Chairperson. The Supervisory Board of RB Rail AS consists of six members elected for a three-year period.
“Rail Baltica being a unique and complex cross-border infrastructure megaproject not only within the Baltic region, but also the whole Europe, is rapidly approaching large-scale construction phase and requires timely preparation for the operational phase,” said Chairman of the Board at SIA Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas Kaspars Vingris. “Arnis Kākulis combines international management experience, understanding of the Baltic region and Rail Baltica project, as is an excellent fit for the position.”
“Rail Baltica is emerging in times of numerous challenges – related to both global factors and necessity to strengthen the project management at global and local scale, therefore we highly appreciate Arnis Kākulis joining the Rail Baltica team,” emphasized Ligita Austrupe, Chairperson of RB Rail AS Supervisory Board.
Previously Arnis Kākulis was the director of AECOM’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and India regions, for many years worked as the director for the Baltic region and participated in the evaluation of the early stages of the Rail Baltica project. His main field of activity is attracting business sector clients to complex projects in the field of strategic planning and design management.
“As I commence work on the Board of RB Rail AS, I have no doubt that my extensive and international work experience in the fields of planning, design and management will be essential for the Rail Baltica global project. Since 2010, I have managed several projects related to Rail Baltica projects – including the initial research, which concluded that Rail Baltica is not only financially sustainable but is also a cornerstone for further development of the Baltic States, ensuring mobility, security, and economic growth in the future. Now together with the Board we need to put emphasis on faster project implementation, including construction optimization and attraction of financing, ensuring transparent procurement and successful RB Rail AS teamwork to fulfill these goals,” said Mr Arnis Kākulis.
Kākulis is an experienced executive with extensive international experience. He has obtained a master’s degree in architecture and a master’s degree in urban planning at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, United States of America. After 15 years of diverse professional experience in the USA, in 2007 Kākulis returned to Latvia with his family to contribute his professional experience to the growth of the business environment of the Baltic region.
He was the president and board member of American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia, headed the transport working group at the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL), participated in the Diaspora Advisory Council, and is an active member of several global professional organizations – CoreNet Global and Urban Land Institute.
RB Rail AS Supervisory Board is chaired by Ligita Austrupe (LV), Ahti Kuningas (EE) and Romas Švedas (LT) as Vice-Chairmen of the Supervisory Board of RB Rail AS, whereas Arenijus Jackus (LT) as the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee and Sandor Liive (EE) as the Chairman of Human Resources Committee.
Each shareholder nominates two Supervisory Board members. The function of the Supervisory Board is to select the company’s management, establish and execute a corporate control environment, and provide its strategic guidance. The Shareholder Agreement stipulates that each year, the Supervisory Board is chaired by a representative of a different member state of the joint venture, on a rotating basis.