"Attempts by the RB Rail chief to build an impression of alleged conflicts among the company's shareholders are fully unfounded," Karolis Sankovskis, deputy chairman of the supervisory board of RB Rail AS and CEO of UAB Rail Baltica statyba, the Lithuanian shareholder of the joint venture, said in a press release. "There are only disagreements with the RB Rail chief, who has lost confidence and whose actions affect the reputation of the project. Currently, all project partners in all three Baltic countries are cooperating closely to implement the project successfully and in time."

According to the Lithuanian official, the unity and close cooperation fostered by the project partners, who understand very well the importance and benefits of the strategic project, will not be affected by Rubesa's statements.

Sankovskis emphasized that all the work in Lithuania was going as planned, while some of the work within RB Rail's competence was slightly behind schedule. Elimination of the delays requires strong project coordination, he noted, and lack of such coordination was one of the reasons behind the no-confidence vote in Rubesa.

Estonia, Lithuania express no confidence in Rubesa

Earlier this month, the Estonian and Lithuanian shareholders of RB Rail, the joint venture overseeing the implementation of the Rail Baltica project, expressed no confidence in CEO Baiba Rubesa; Latvia abstained from the vote. Despite the no-confidence vote, Rubesa has said she does not intend to resign from her position.

The EU has pledged to allocate a total of €1.2 billion for the entire project in the Baltic countries between 2014-2020. An additional €110 million was approved last year. The European Commission is funding 85 percent of the project's total costs in the current financing period.

Rail Baltica, the construction of which is to total approximately €5.8 billion, aims to build a direct railway connection between the Baltic countries and the European railway network. The project is planned to be completed by 2026.