Riga, January 12, 2016 – The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has awarded two construction contracts worth 8 million euros to local companies SIA Arčers and SIA Merks to improve facilities at Latvia’s Adaži Military Base and Lielvarde Air Base.
These U.S.-funded European Reassurance Initiative (ERI) projects, the first to be awarded in the Baltics, are part of an effort to reinforce America’s commitment to the safety and territorial integrity of its allies and to strengthen the security and capacity of its partners in the Baltic region.
The construction project at Adaži Military Base, worth approximately 7 million euros, will focus on improvements to the firing ranges and training area, as well as storage and maintenance facilities. At the Lielvarde Air Base, 1 million euros will go toward constructing storage facilities, refurbishing living quarters and improving access roads.
U.S. European Command, U.S. Army Europe, U.S. Air Force Europe and the U.S. Embassy in Riga worked closely with the Latvian Ministry of Defense and the National Armed Forces to develop both projects. Construction is scheduled to conclude by the summer of 2017.
ERI funding helps increase the capability, readiness and responsiveness of NATO forces, primarily through the funding of a rotational force presence in Eastern Europe, as well as through the improvement of ground and air training and staging sites. In 2015, the U.S. Congress specifically appropriated $175 million to support the governments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, and the UK.
ERI included $985 million in funds as part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 signed by President Obama on December 19, 2014.
NOTE TO THE EDITOR:
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