Óscar Puente discusses the role of Spanish companies in the development of their high-speed rail network with his Baltic counterparts

The Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Oscar Puente, attends an ICEX conference on high-speed rail in the Baltic countries

The Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, met at the headquarters of ICEX Spain Export and Investment with Kuldar Leis, Minister of Infrastructure of Estonia; Jānis Zlamets, Ambassador of Latvia; Roderikas Žiobakas, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of Lithuania; and Elżbieta Łukaniuk, Advisor to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland.

The five leaders discussed the role Spanish engineering companies are playing in "Rail Baltica," the high-speed rail project underway in the three Baltic countries and Poland. This railway development will connect them to the Trans-European Transport Network and some of Europe's major ports, such as Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Antwerp. As Óscar Puente explained during his remarks after the meeting, "it gives meaning to the very concept of European integration by contributing to the autonomy, security, and cooperation of the countries it connects."

Spain is playing a crucial role in the development of this macrostructure, as the European country with the largest number of companies involved: Seven of the nine design contracts have been awarded to Spanish companies such as Ineco and Renfe, and the electrification of the line itself will be carried out by a consortium with Spanish participation. "I hope this meeting will help us continue building this fruitful relationship," the minister told his European counterparts.

Puente underscored Spain's "full commitment" to making Rail Baltica a reality, calling for the "necessary impetus" from public institutions to provide "security and certainty" to the companies behind the project. In this regard, Puente reiterated the need for the European Commission itself to prioritise these types of cross-border projects.

Non official translation