Chief technical officer Marc-Philippe El Beze, an experienced international high-speed railway professional, will join the management board as chief technical officer while Priit Treial, infrastructure management and development professional, will take the position of chief financial officer.  

The new management board will represent all key competencies required for a successful project implementation: project planning and control, technical and engineering excellence, financial planning as well as strategy and stakeholder management, a press release said. 

"Today's appointment represents another important milestone in the Rail Baltic project implementation," said Anri Leimanis, chairman of the supervisory board.

"The new leadership team has a wide-ranging experience in technical project implementation and stakeholder relationship management. The incoming chief technical officer, Marc-Philippe El Beze, is a seasoned high-speed railway construction manager with decades of hands-on expertise globally."

Speaking on the appointment of the interim CEO in a permanent capacity, Leimanis emphasized that under the leadership of Agnis Driksna, the Rail Baltic joint venture has successfully reached key milestones and continued the project delivery under limitations imposed by the COVID-19.

"This includes a steady progress of the design activities, improved project planning and reporting as well as acquisition of additional EU and national funding. Together with Mark Loader, who joined the company as chief program management officer in February 2020, Agnis Driksna will ensure the necessary continuity in the project and improved stakeholder relations," he said.

Driksna said: "I am honored by the confidence placed in me after having served as an interim chief executive officer for several months. Together with the new board members and the Rail Baltic team, we will focus on finalizing the design phase of the project and taking strategic decisions necessary for the beginning of large-scale construction works."

RB Rail AS is a joint Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian company established in order to coordinate the implementation of the Rail Baltic project: construction of the infrastructure required for a high-speed rail line from Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border.

It is the central coordinator of the Rail Baltic project. Its areas of operation are the design, construction and marketing of the rail line.

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