With good project preparation, even first-of-a-kind projects can be completed on time and meet their budgets. This was the case for the Kekava road bypass project. After working on the project for more than two years, Mārtiņš Lazdovskis found himself at the inauguration ceremony, smiling proudly for the camera and holding a piece of freshly cut ribbon.

“13 October 2023 is a memorable day in the life of many Latvians living in Riga and its surroundings, as a new stretch of motorway improves the region’s connectivity,” says Lazdovskis, chairman of Latvian State Roads, the government body that manages the country’s road network. The new 17-kilometre bypass, which took 820 days to complete, solves a major bottleneck in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) that would occur when cars and other vehicles passed through Kekava. The new bypass around Kekava saves drivers 30 minutes each way. It also improves road safety and reduces noise and pollution.

The EIB lent €61.1 million to support a public-private partnership (PPP) created to build and operate the bypass. A PPP is a deal made between a government authority and a private company, usually to build, run and maintain public infrastructure. The bypass project benefited from private sector innovation and efficiency that reduced the construction and design costs. Under a PPP contract, the private partner takes on the risk of running and managing the project. The public authority makes payments to the private company based on the project’s performance.

The EIB also provided Latvian State Roads with advisory support from the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC). Run by EIB Advisory, EPEC helps the public sector prepare and complete bankable infrastructure projects using PPP arrangements.

The Kekava bypass PPP project is the first large-scale road infrastructure project in the Baltics, so our experience was quite limited at the outset. The advisory support of the EIB was a significant factor in our success. We had a very fruitful collaboration with EIB Advisory and learned a lot about their experiences implementing PPP projects in Europe.

Mārtiņš Lazdovskis

Chairman of Latvian State Roads

EIB Advisory experts helped to prepare the project, including with procurement and financing. “This allowed us to choose the most suitable model for Latvia. The EIB’s advice was invaluable,” Lazdovskis says.

Every big project comes with challenges, and the Kekava bypass was no exception. Early on in the preparation phase, the team needed to consider many problems that might delay the project — such as a revolution, terrorism, a coup, earthquakes or even radioactive contamination. Lazdovskis recalls a colleague joking, “Well, what else unforeseen could happen? A meteorite falling?”

But there was indeed something they failed to consider: the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that crisis, however, the project moved forward. The procurement procedures were managed online, and the PPP agreement was signed in 2021. Construction had just started on the bypass when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. This caused supply chains to break and materials costs to rise significantly. “Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of all the parties involved, we opened the bypass to traffic on 13 October of this year,” Lazdovskis affirms.

820 days to success