Special obligations

Special obligations – are the functions that a state-owned enterprise (SOE) would not undertake to perform on a commercial basis (or would perform them at a higher price than specified) and that the SOE is entrusted with by a State decision.

The Company fulfils a special commitment – the maintenance, renewal and development of public railway infrastructure, the provision of services constituting the minimum package of access to public railway infrastructure, and the disposal of public railway infrastructure under a right of trust.

The purpose of the special obligation:

Providing services to railway undertakings (carriers) and repairers that form part of the minimum package of access to public railway infrastructure on non-discriminatory terms;
Maintaining, upgrading and developing public railway infrastructure, implementing projects under the public investment programme and ensuring the use of EU funds.

Legislation entrusting the SOE with the following special obligation:

Provision of minimum access package services: Article 3(51), Article 23(1), Article 24(1)(6) of RTC;
Maintenance, modernisation and development of the public railway infrastructure: Article 3(51), Article 23(1) and Article 24(1)(1), Article 24(1)(3) and Article 24(1)(4) of RTC.
Possession of public railway infrastructure under a trust: Article 23(6) to (10) of the Railway Transport Code.

Legislation that sets forth the conditions for the performance of a special obligation and regulates pricing:

Provision of the minimum access services to the public railway infrastructure package and possession of the public railway infrastructure under a trust: budget appropriations for the function under the budget of 6 April 2022. Agreement between the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania and LTG Infra, the manager of the public railway infrastructure, to ensure the quality and financing of the public railway infrastructure and railway service facilities owned by the Lithuanian State* (contract in original language here) and the annual agreement between the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania and LTG Infra on the use of state budget funds earmarked for the implementation of the programme “Implementation of Transport and Communications Policy”. Pricing shall be regulated by Articles 25-252ofthe Railway Transport Code and the Rules for the calculation and payment of the fee for the minimum package of access to the public railway infrastructure, the fee for the use of the public railway infrastructure for the provision of rail transit services, and the fee for the allocated but unused capacity of the public railway infrastructure, approved by Resolution No. 610 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 19 May 2004 approving the Rules for the calculation and payment of the fee for the minimum package of access to the public railway infrastructure, the fee for the use of the public railway infrastructure for the provision of rail transit services and the fee for the allocated but unused capacity of the public railway infrastructure. Moreover, the possession of the public railway infrastructure is affected by the right granted to the Company as the manager of the public railway infrastructure to lease the public railway infrastructure, which, together with the conditions for such lease, is regulated in Article 23(6) to (10) of the Railway Transport Code, and pursuant to paragraph 12 of the said Article of the Railway Transport Code, the expenses incurred in the exercise of the functions of the manager of the public railway infrastructure referred to in Article 24 of the Railway Transport Code are to be paid, among other things, from the income derived from the lease of the public railway infrastructure. The rental price of public railway infrastructure facilities shall be calculated in accordance with Resolution No. 525 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 11 June 2014 approving the Description of the procedure for the rental of public railway infrastructure facilities and the lease of railway service facilities owned by the State of Lithuania, adopted on the basis of the provisions of the Article 23(9) of the Railway Transport Code.

*According to clause 5.4 of the contract, a report on the implementation of the list of quality criteria for the Public Railway Infrastructure and the Railway Service Facilities owned by the State of Lithuania is published (document in the original language here).

Maintenance, renewal and development of public railway infrastructure: the function is performed in accordance with the annual agreement between the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania and LTG Infra for the use of the state budget funds earmarked for the implementation of the programme "Implementation of the Transport and Communications Policy", the funds from the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds and the Connecting Europe Facilities, as well as the use of the LTG Infra's own funds.

The Special Obligation is foreseen to cost EUR 397.1 million in 2025, of which:

State budget appropriations are EUR 242.4 million;
European Union funds are EUR 154.7 million.

More detailed information on the state budget allocations for the special obligation can be found in the Strategic Operational Plan 2025-2027 of the areas of responsibility of the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, which is published at this link.

The state budget appropriations (including the European Structural and Investment Funds and the Connecting Europe Facility) allocated to the special obligation in 2024 amount to EUR 253.1 million.

More detailed information on the state budget allocations for the special obligation can be found in the Strategic Operational Plan 2024-2026 of the areas of responsibility of the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, which is published at this link.

The results of the Special Obligation 2024 are presented in LTG Infra's 2024 Annual Report.