Board of Governors meets in Vilnius

The Board of Governors of NIB held its annual meeting on 11 May in Vilnius, Lithuania, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Bendt Bendtsen, Minister of Economic and Business Affairs of Denmark.

At the meeting, the Board of Governors approved NIB’s Annual Accounts for 2005. NIB’s member countries will receive EUR 55 million as dividends for 2005.

Last year, NIB became the first Nordic intergovernmental institution to include Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania among its members. The Board of Governors, in which all eight member countries are represented by their ministers of finance and economy, took over the functions of the supreme governing body at NIB from the Nordic Council after the three Baltic countries joined the Bank. The Board of Governors appointed the Governor for Finland, Mrs Ulla-Maj Wideroos, Coordinate Minister for Finance, as its Chairman for the period 1 June 2006 to 31 May 2007.

NIB’s net interest income amounted to EUR 169 million in 2005. Disbursements of new loans reached EUR 2.1 billion and new loan agreements EUR 2.6 billion. At the end of the year, loans outstanding rose by 14% year-on-year to EUR 11.7 billion.

At the meeting, NIB’s Governors discussed the Bank’s role in enhancing economic development in its member countries. It was recognised that many areas of economic activity can benefit from NIB’s long-term lending, specifically when it comes to financing cross-border projects in the Baltic Sea region. The Governors emphasised NIB’s strengths in financing investments in environmental improvements, development of infrastructure, and loan programmes to small and medium-sized enterprises. The Board of Governors encouraged the Bank to assess its possibilities to promote the financing of innovations, which is essential to strengthen the competitiveness of the countries in the Baltic Sea region.