On December 12, the European Commission and the Nordic Investment Bank signed the InvestEU guarantee agreement. The value of this agreement reaches EUR 114 million, as confirmed by the European Commission’s office in Latvia.
This agreement will allow for attracting funding from the Nordic Investment Bank worth up to EUR 480 million for investments into sustainable infrastructure, research, innovation and digitisation in Nordic countries, Baltic States and Poland.
It is expected that this amount will help mobilise public and private investments worth approximately EUR 2 bullion.
InvestEU programme provides EU budget guarantees for partners in order to increase their ability to take on risks and thereby mobilise public and private investments to implement EU policy’s priorities. This means projects in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Sweden will be able to use guarantees from the Nordic Investment Bank and the European Union as part of InvestEU.
“Nordic Investment Bank’s strategy is aimed towards letting small and medium-sized businesses with moderately large capital take on a higher risk. EU guarantees are the perfect took for this strategy,” comments Helsinki-based bank’s governor Andre Kuusvek from Estonia.
With this agreement Nordic Investment Bank becomes a partner of IvestEU. The bank will use the provided guarantees to mobilise investments into clean energy, modernisation and decarbonisation of industry, supplies of vital raw materials, sustainable transport, environment protection, bio-economy, digital compatibility and sustainable data infrastructure.
The bank will also support investments into projects related to sustainable or “blue” economy, space, critical infrastructure, health and innovative technology development in different industries. Sectors covered by this agreement include sustainable infrastructure, research, innovation and digitisation. These investments will help the EU reach its more expansive strategic goal – ensure green and digital reformation. (BNN/Business World Magazine)