The audit on Rail Baltica functional management of the internal systems, procurement processes and financing of the project has started, as RB Rail AS hosted a meeting with representatives of the State Audit Office of Latvia to commence the process. The audit will last till the end of 2019 and cover the period from 2014 until 2018.
The audit will be conducted jointly by the National Audit Office of Estonia, State Audit Office of Latvia and National Audit Office of Lithuania which will be the leading institution.
This complex audit exercise will cover not only RB Rail AS but also implementing bodies and beneficiary institutions of the project in the Baltic states.
The main goal of the audit is to answer whether the existing procurement and contracting models are efficient and enable an effective and economic delivery of the Rail Baltica project.
In addition, the auditors will assess whether the funding of the Rail Baltica global project is secured by the governments of the Baltic States. Furthermore, it will evaluate how well the project is prepared to mitigate financial risks associated with cost increase and the EU funding availability.
During the meeting, RB Rail AS procurement, legal and operational teams presented the auditors with the contracting scheme, inter-governmental and other agreements, project governances structure and procurement system. In addition, the financial team outlined RB Rail AS financing model and the global project’s financing.
“As Rail Baltica project entering the design phase, the scope of procurement activity is increasing. It is essential to ensure that all necessary procedures and rules are in place at all countries and in all institutions involved in the project delivery. The scope of the audit is focused on all important aspects of the project delivery, therefore we will be looking forward to auditors’ feedback to continue improving our performance,” Ignas Degutis, RB Rail AS acting CEO said.
Share on:
