Brussels, 12 December 2022
Today, the European Commission and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) have signed an InvestEU guarantee agreement worth up to €114 million. The agreement will unlock NIB financing of up to €480 million for investments in sustainable infrastructure, research, innovation and digitalisation across the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as in Poland. This is expected to, in turn, mobilise public and private investments of around €2 billion in total.
With this agreement, NIB becomes an InvestEU implementing partner. NIB will use this guarantee agreement to mobilise investments in clean energy, the modernisation and decarbonisation of industry, critical raw materials supply, sustainable transport, environmental protection, bioeconomy, digital connectivity and sustainable data infrastructure. It will also support investments in projects relating to the sustainable blue economy, space, critical infrastructure, health and the development of innovative technologies across a range of sectors. These investments will help the EU to achieve its broader strategic objectives of securing the green and digital transitions.
At this stage, the EU guarantee under InvestEU can be used by NIB to support projects in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. The first operations under the agreement are expected to be approved over the course of 2023.
Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said:
“InvestEU is a crucial tool in our efforts to advance successfully with the green and digital transitions of our economies. I am delighted that with this agreement the Nordic Investment Bank has become our implementing partner. Together, we can harness the full potential of InvestEU to channel investment towards green and digital projects, supporting sustainable growth and creating high-quality jobs across the Nordic and Baltic region.”
InvestEU provides an EU budgetary guarantee to implementing partners to increase their risk-taking capacity and therefore contributes to mobilising public and private investment for the EU’s policy priorities.
A press release is available online.
Source – EU Commission