According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of Greenfield construction and maintenance of the 14.25 km long road section of the A7 motorway Riga - Bauska - Lithuanian border along Bauska municipality, part of Via Baltica international road corridor and two connector roads with combined length of 5.0 km. The project will be implemented under the Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) PPP model, with a design and construction period of 3 years, followed by 20 years of maintenance.

The project is located in a less developed region, making it eligible under Article 309 point (a) less developed regions. The entire project section is part of the TEN-T Core network (Regulation 2024/1679), and the project is therefore eligible also under Article 309 point (c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

The project is part of a longer (70 km) A7 road section (crossing with A4 (Saulkalne) to Bauska (Arce), which was subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure back in 2009. Following the study results, the Competent Authority issued an Environmental Decision on 6 November 2009.

The project section as such also falls under Annex I of the EIA Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU. Considering the time elapsed since the EIA Decision and new circumstances (Rail Baltica alignment and changes in land-use) affecting the project area, the Promoter carried out additional studies and applied for a Competent Authority's screening decision. Following the analysis of the updated information, the Competent Authority on 11 November 2024 issued a screening decision concluding that the new circumstances will not have a significant negative impact on environment and a new EIA procedure for the Bauska bypass project section is not required.

The project doesn't interfere with NATURA 2000 sites. Potential climate risks, the scope and adequacy of the applied adaptation measures for ensuring long-term resilience of the new road, and impact of the project implementation on the GHG emissions will be further assessed during the appraisal.

The project does not interfere with NATURA 2000 or national protected sites.

As a greenfield investment, the project implementation requires additional land take of approximately 200 ha. This will lead to the conversion and permanent loss of primarily agricultural land. The construction of a new expressway will lead to land fragmentation and visual intrusion. Landowners have been informed about the required expropriation. Resettlement is not expected.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces