AS “Ķekava ABT” is a newly incorporated company set up to design, build, finance and operate the Ķekava Bypass road project under a PPP agreement with the Latvian Ministry of Transport.
The project comprises the construction and maintenance of a 17.5 kilometer stretch of road bypassing the town of Ķekava near Rīga, which is located on a busy road south to the Lithuanian border.
14.4 kilometers will be newly built and 3.1 kilometers will be renovated existing road. The Ķekava Bypass will become a part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and Via Baltica (E67) – a 1,722 km road joining six countries from Prague to Helsinki.
"The road in question, E67, is a vital international corridor and a strategically important road, especially for our Baltic member countries. The Kekava Bypass project is the first major PPP project in Latvia, and thus, the project can give an incentive for other larger infrastructure projects in the region," said André Küüsvek, President and CEO of NIB.
The new bypass will be a modern four-lane bypass with parallel roads, bridges and tunnels. The construction of the Kekava bypass will improve the traffic flow in and out of Rīga towards Lithuania and the rest of Europe.
NIB is co-financing the project together with the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The public partner in this project is the State Ministry of Transport, on whose behalf the project has been negotiated and will be implemented by Latvijas Valsts Celi (LVC, Latvian State Roads).
The borrower, AS “Kekava ABT”, has been created by, and is owned by the consortium. The consortium consists of the Luxembourg-registered infrastructure fund TIIC 2 S.C.A. SICAR as well as Latvian construction firms AS A.C.B. and CBF SIA Binders. The consortium was chosen by the Ministry of Transport as the preferred bidder after the conclusion of a tendering process for the project. The partnership contract validity period is 23 years.
The NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries.
