EIF teams up with three leading Baltic banks to provide more than €720 million in new financing in the region

• EIF guarantees for LHV, SEB and Swedbank to support businesses, people and housing associations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• More than 50% of financing for sustainable investments.
• Agreements pave way for improved loan terms, including lower interest rates, and are supported by InvestEU.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and three leading lenders in the Baltic states – LHV Pank, SEB Bank and Swedbank – have joined forces in an effort to trigger more than €720 million in new financing for local businesses and households in the region.

The EIF is providing guarantee agreements that will facilitate lending by LHV, SEB and Swedbank for projects promoting climate protection and environmental sustainability in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The guarantee agreements, announced today in Tallinn, are backed by the InvestEU programme.

Most of the financing under the guarantee agreements will support companies with no more than 250 employees, microenterprises with fewer than ten workers, and small mid-caps with up to 500 staff members. Under the agreement, signed in Tallinn today, housing associations and natural persons will also be eligible for financing.          

“Over the years, the EIF has developed an excellent partnership with Swedbank, SEB Bank and LHV,” EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt said at the signing ceremony.  “Building on this cooperation, these new agreements will ensure that Baltic businesses have better access to finance, empowering them to pursue their aspirations for growth and at the same time helping them to navigate the green transition and contribute to a greener future.”

With the guarantee agreements, the banks can offer better financing terms such as lower interest rates, longer maturities and lower collateral requirements. The agreement will benefit start-ups and microenterprises that might otherwise face obstacles in securing investment financing, and will help housing associations to fund energy-efficiency renovations and people to invest in zero-emissions vehicles and vessels.

More than 50% of the financing is meant for eco-friendly investments, enabling the banks to step up their support for the green and sustainable transformation of the Baltic economy.

"This programme will help us to widen the availability of financing of investments to improve the efficiency of companies and, in particular, apartment associations. said LHV Pank CEO Kadri Kiisel. “In a broader perspective, the expansion of investments is crucial, as it concerns the competitiveness of our economy and economic growth. Thanks to this valuable EIF programme we can make loans for energy solutions much more affordable than before, for instance."

Member of the Management Board and Head of Retail Banking at SEB Bank Ainar Leppänen stated: "We welcome the expansion of the EIF guarantee programme to the Baltics. One of SEB's missions is to help companies grow sustainably and make households more energy efficient. The EIF cooperation agreement facilitates this on more favourable terms for customers, and we hope that this cooperation gets off to a successful start."

“Under the COSME and EaSI programmes supported by the EIF, Swedbank has already issued over €630 million in bank loans and leasing services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Baltics. We now look forward to further cooperation that will result in more than €336 million of additional financing SMEs and apartment associations in the coming years,” said CEO of Swedbank Estonia and Member of the Baltic Banking Management Group Olavi Lepp.

The European Commission’s InvestEU programme aims to unlock more than €372 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027 for EU policy priorities, including the green and digital transitions.

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for an Economy that Works for People Valdis Dombrovskis said: “This is an excellent example of Baltic cooperation to boost the region’s economies and efforts to move to a carbon-neutral economy. Thanks to today’s agreements with the EIF, micro-enterprises and SMEs across the Baltic region will get better access to financing, which will help them to invest and grow further, as well as play their part in pursuing climate and sustainability objectives. InvestEU continues to support the green transition across Europe.”

Background information

The European Investment Fund is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF furthers key EU policy objectives such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability, and more.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

LHV is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. The group employs over 1 100 people. As of May 2024, LHV’s banking services were being used by 435 000 clients, the pension funds managed by LHV had 119 000 active clients, and LHV Kindlustus was protecting a total of 168 000 clients. LHV Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the group, holds a banking licence in the United Kingdom. LHV Group is listed on the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange and has over 37 000 shareholders.

SEB is a leading Nordic financial services group, founded in 1856. Since then we’ve been guided by a strong belief that entrepreneurial minds and innovative companies are key in creating a better world. SEB branches operate in 20 countries around the world. Over 15 000 people are working in the SEB group and SEB is supporting over 400 000 companies and 4 million privat customers. In Sweden and the Baltic countries SEB offers financial advice and a wide range of financial services. In Denmark, Finland, Norway and Germany, SEB operations have a strong focus on a full-service offering to corporate and institutional clients. 

Swedbank empowers the many people and businesses to create a better future. Our vision is a financially sound and sustainable society. Swedbank is one of the leading banks in the Baltic states and Sweden and is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Swedbank serves over 7 million private customers and over 0.5 million corporate clients and organisations in its four home markets – Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Additional information:

EIB Group:
Dušan Ondrejička, tel.: +352 4379 83334 –  d.ondrejicka@eib.org
Follow us on Twitter@eif_eu
Website: www.eif.org – press@eib.org

LHV:
Marthi Lepik
Tel.: +372 5666 2944 – marthi.lepik@lhv.ee
Website: lhv.ee 

SEB Pank:
Katre Kärner
Head of Communication
Tel.: +372 5560 9962 
Email: katre.karner@seb.ee  
www.seb.ee  

Swedbank:
Heili Klandorf-Järvsoo
Communication Area Manager, Swedbank Estonia
e-mail: heili.klandorf-jarvsoo@swedbank.ee
Tel.: +372 5780 0633
www.swedbank.ee