EIB regional office in Helsinki inaugurated

The European Investment Bank (EIB) opened its regional office located in NIB’s Headquarters in Helsinki on 10 September. The representation aims to enhance the EIB’s presence in the Baltic Sea region.

The office was inaugurated by Tom Hackett, EIB Director General for Operations in the EU and Candidate Countries, and Johnny Åkerholm, NIB President and CEO.

“We welcome the EIB at our Headquarters in Helsinki. NIB has already worked together with the EIB since the 1980s, for instance in co-financing many projects. The presence of the EIB in Helsinki enables us to deepen the contact further and identify new joint projects,” said Johnny Åkerholm, NIB’s President and CEO.

Mr Hackett pointed out that the EIB office will strengthen the excellent relationship between the two banks. “We hope to build on this experience to continue providing co-financing to important projects, especially in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” he said.

NIB and the EIB has been cooperating in co-financing projects in the member countries and the neighbouring areas, including building power plants, water supply and treatment networks in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Both Banks participate in the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, which coordinates large-scale projects addressing environmental issues in the Baltic Sea region, the Barents region and Northwest Russia. Among the project co-financed by NIB and the EIB in recent years are the construction of the Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant in St. Petersburg and highway projects in Finland, Poland and the Baltic countries.