RB Rail said it would "shortly" launch an "executive search for the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairperson of the Management Board".
In the meantime, interim CEO duties will be taken over by Management Board member and Chief Procurement Officer Marko Kivila. Marko Kivila was appointed Chief Procurement Officer and Member of the Management Board at RB Rail AS as recently as November 2022.
A release from RB Rail gave no specific reason for Driksna's departure but a spokeswoman told LSM that Driksna's three-year term of office will soon be up and the board decided it wanted an open competition for the position. In theory Driksna could re-apply for his current job, but is unlikely to do so after a "mutual agreement" was reached, LSM was told.
Driksna was appointed as CEO of RB Rail AS in 2019, following the resignations of predecessors Baiba Rubesa in 2018 and then Timo Riihimaki in 2019.
Just a week ago, Driksna was saying "We look forward to starting a new phase in the productive cooperation with our Polish partners,” after the signing of a letter of intent with Poland. A month ago, according to RB Rail, "Driksna admitted that, it should be recognized that at one point with the project reaching maturity, a pragmatic compromise between the political ambition and what is technically feasible will need to be reached."
“Agnis Driksna has greatly contributed to Rail Baltica project ensuring its position high up among the top priority high-speed railway infrastructure projects in the European Union and ensuring uninterrupted work on project delivery during the Covid19 pandemic. During his leadership the project has evolved, entering a whole new level of maturity. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I thank Agnis Driksna for the professionalism and contribution to Rail Baltica global project,” said Ligita Austrupe, Chairperson of RB Rail AS's Supervisory board.
