On 6 February, the Cabinet of Ministers (CoM) took note of the information report of the Ministry of the Interior “On the continuation of the construction of permanent infrastructure on the external land border of the country and the financing required for this purpose”.
In order to ensure the construction of the infrastructure necessary for the protection of the external land border along the Latvian - Russian border, SJSC “State Real Estate” has been authorized to assume financial liabilities in the amount of 50 170 272,72 euros (including VAT) for the construction of a fence on the priority sections of the Latvian - Russian border in the second round (with a total approximate length of 64,94 km), where it has not been previously constructed.
In addition, SJSC “State Real Estate” is expected to conclude an inter-ministerial agreement with the National Armed Forces for the construction of a fence on the second priority section of the Latvian - Russian border (approximately 19,52 km in length).
In order to ensure the commencement of the construction of the technological infrastructure necessary for the protection of the external land border on the Latvian - Russian border, the State Border Guard is to conclude a financing agreement with the State Joint Stock Company “Latvian State Radio and Television Centre”.
In order to ensure that the costs included in the information report are covered, the Ministry of the Interior will prepare and submit to the Cabinet of Ministers, in accordance with the procedure laid down in the laws and regulations, a draft order on the reallocation of 58 880 050 euros in 2024 from the budget programme 18.00.00 “Funding for measures to strengthen State security”. Of this, 57 211 644 euros are planned for the construction of State border security infrastructure on the external land border of the country, including 49 496 515 euros for the construction of State border security infrastructure (fence) along the Latvian - Russian border (~64,95 km) in accordance with the results of the price survey; 7 094 272 euros for the construction of State border security infrastructure (fence) along the Latvian - Russian border (~19,52 km) with the support of the National Armed Forces; 620 857 euros for the expropriation of land units for the construction of the infrastructure necessary for the protection of the external land border of the State on the Latvian - Belarusian border and for the registration of the property rights in the Land Register; 1 668 406 euros for the start of the construction of the technological infrastructure for the protection of the State border on the Latvian - Russian border.
At the same time, on Wednesday 31 January, the submission of applications for the re-opened call for tenders launched by the SRE for the construction of the fence closed for those calls for tenders that had previously ended without a result. Several tenderers submitted their applications. These are the most challenging sections in the marshlands, where a balance is sought between infrastructure solutions and costs. The tender for the construction works therefore provides for the possibility to submit several tender options with three different solutions for the construction of the fence in the marsh areas. An evaluation of the bids received and the different options has been carried out and has been communicated to the CoM today. As a result, it was decided to complete the construction of the additional fence on the external land border along the Latvian - Russian border (except for the sections 1 and 3 of the works in the wet and marshy zones, ~28,35 km) by 31 December 2024, but to ensure the obligation to use financial resources efficiently, it was decided to ensure the construction of the additional fence in the wet and marshy zones, ~28,35 km in sections 1 and 3, by 25 October 2025 at the latest.
The Latvian - Russian border is 283,6 kilometres long. At present, the priority of the SRE is the completion of the already built infrastructure and the construction of a fence in the sections where there is none. It is planned that the fence could be completed by the end of 2024, while the remaining infrastructure is planned to be completed by 2025. Currently, around 180 kilometres of fencing and at least 53 kilometres of border protection infrastructure need to be built on the Latvian - Russian border. A significant part of the border strip along the Russian border has already been deforested, which will allow the fence to be built more quickly.
To date, the infrastructure of the border strip has been built for about 230 km, including patrol trails (wooden footbridges or crushed wood surfacing (wood chips), natural dirt road and culverts) and four suspension (cable-stayed) bridges. A fence has been built along a length of approximately 99 km.
The implementation of the Eastern Border Construction Project is supervised by the Outer Border Infrastructure Construction Supervisory Committee, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, State Border Guard, State Security Agency, SJSC “Latvia State Radio and Television Centre”, SJSC “State Real Estate”, JSC “Latvia’s State Forests”, Latvian Geospatial Information Agency and the National Armed Forces.
Prepared by:
Ministry of the Interior
Communication Department