Kulbergs said that one of the main objectives of the parliamentary commission of inquiry was to reveal the moment when "this train fundamentally derailed".
"We now see that the [derailment] phase of the train is 2013-2014," Kulbergs added.
The Commission's head said that in 2017, the Saeima ratified key project documents, including a shareholders' agreement signed in 2014, which includes a 2011 study in the Baltic countries.
"It was a simplified baseline for connecting the Baltic countries and their capitals to the Rail Baltica railway. We see that Riga is connected as one branch to Riga Railway Station and back. So a simplified project, after which the baseline was put at €1.2 billion for its cost," Kulbergs said.
However, the commission found that there were later changes: in 2016, another proposal, which had been made in 2013, came to the government after an alternative solution was outsourced for €4 million. Kulbergs pointed out that at this point the so-called "Riga Loop" emerged, involving Riga Airport and other points that can currently be seen under construction in the capital, but not completed.
"This expensive, luxury idea of the Riga Loop, which is, of course, beautiful, convenient, and comfortable, but the question is whether it is originally approved, has come up. No, it has not been approved, as we can see from the documents at the moment.
"Parliament has not given a mandate for such a solution. It has been taken to the Cabinet of Ministers, but it has been taken without a financial assessment," Kulbergs said, pointing out that the impact of such a solution had not been assessed.
Kulbergs pointed out that although the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Finance say that the ministry was not aware of the various documents, the commission observed that "in fact, evidence went to the cabinet" in 2013 and 2016. He noted that there were indications that the project was becoming more expensive.
Kulbergs also expressed surprise that the project involved key persons with no training in the field, and without any experience in project management. The project has not been compared with other similar projects in other countries. "Nobody has looked at the project in the big picture," Kulbergs added.
In June this year, the Parliament approved a parliamentary commission of inquiry into Rail Baltica, which aims to identify mistakes made in the implementation of the project, while making it a priority issue for the government.
The cost of the ambitious Rail Baltica project has risen to almost €24 billion from less than €6 billion initially. The project's cost increase is so huge that only the first phase of the project is planned to be completed by 2030 - essentially a single-track road instead of a double-track.
