RB Rail AS Supervisory Board has appointed Agnis Driksna, the Director of Development and Communications Department at “European Railway Lines” in the capacity of the interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RB Rail AS, who will assume his duties starting from 2 December. Agnis Driksna is highly skilled project management and development expert and fully committed to strengthen cooperation between the project stakeholders and make sure that essential project activities are accelerated. He will replace Timo Riihimäki who will end his tenure on 1 December 2019. In parallel, Supervisory Board will start the recruitment of a permanent CEO.
In addition, Mart Nielsen, RB Rail AS Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and the Management Board Member resigned. He plans to take a new job in the private sector. Mart Nielsen, who will be working until 23 December, has been CTO of the Rail Baltica Joint Venture since March 2018. According to the decision of RB Rail AS Supervisory Board, on 24 December the CTO position will be filled in temporarily by Kaido Zimmermann, RB Rail AS Head of Planning and Design Department.
“Supervisory Board has appointed two senior level professionals to continue the work of Rail Baltica Joint Venture. We are confident that both Mr Driksna and Mr Zimmermann will ensure continuous leadership until the appointment of the permanent Management Board Members of RB Rail AS,” Karolis Sankovski, Chairman of the RB Rail AS Supervisory Board said. “Furthermore, the Joint Venture’s Management Board will soon be enhanced with the appointment of the Chief Programme Management Officer who will be responsible for a coordinated and timely delivery of the project.”
The Rail Baltica Global Project has firmly entered the design phase. Detailed technical design is being developed for 411 km of the Rail Baltica main line. In addition, procurement has been launched for design services for additional 236 km of the main line. Furthermore, Rail Baltica passenger terminals in Riga Central Station, Riga International Airport and Tallinn are being designed and individual construction works have started in Lithuania and Estonia.
About Agnis Driksna: since 2016 Agnis Driksna is working at “European Railway Lines” in position of Director of Development and Communication department. Since 2014, he had been the Rail Baltic Project Manager of the Ministry of Transport responsible for international cooperation. He prepared the first funding applications to the EU and represented Latvia in the joint projects of the Baltic States and the EU. Previously, Agnis Driksna has worked in the Ministry of Economics of Latvia as Deputy Director of European Union cooperation department and Head of EU law division. He was also Legal consultant in Competition council of Latvia. Agnis Driksna has MBA degree in Business and law in European Union from Rīgas Stradiņa University, as well as Master Degree in European Union and international law from Concordia International University Estonia.
About Kaido Zimmerman: Kaido Zimmermann has been responsible for RB Rail AS planning and implementation activities of the Rail Baltica Global Project. Previously he has gained experience in railway and legal consultation services, leading the consultancy company Zimmermann IB. Kaido Zimmermann has also served as Railway Logistics Director in Port of Sillamäe in Estonia, was Chief Engineer of Latvian Railways and Chairman of the Board-Managing Director of Estonian Railways. He was also Lecturer of Railway Construction in Tallinn University of Technology. Kaido Zimmerman holds a Master Degree in Engineering from Tallinn University of Technology.