In cooperation with lead counsel Loyens & Loeff (Brussels), we advised clients A.C.B., Binders, and TIIC (Portugal) who formed the consortium Kekava ABT to sign a 3+20 year DBFM contract with the Latvian state for the 17.5 km Kekava bypass on the Via Baltica route, with financing from the European Investment Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank. The total gross availability payments are slightly above EUR 250 million (excl. VAT).
Challenging project
In addition to being a real challenge for Sorainen, Loyens & Loeff Belgium (the lead sponsors’ counsel) and the other teams of advisers involved, given that it was the first major PPP to reach financial close in Latvia, the contract proved both that sizeable and complex projects of this kind are possible in Latvia and that we have a very professional and enthusiastic team on the public partner side to take projects such as this to the point of signing. That’s why Sorainen is very excited about the outlook for more PPP projects in Latvia in the coming years, and hopeful to see similar projects soon in Estonia, Lithuania and Belarus too!
Our team
This project involved Sorainen experts from the Finance (Inese Heinacka, Santa Rubīna), Corporate (Renāte Purvinska, Andis Burkevics and Kate Berlaua), and Real Estate & Construction (Viktorija Smirnova-Čerkasa) teams and was led by partners Rūdolfs Eņģelis and Lelde Laviņa.
Here is the full press release from our client.
In the context of this project, we continue to provide regular legal advice.
