Skanska-co-owned GTC gets new loan for A1 motorway

A new loan by NIB totalling EUR 150 million was agreed on 12 December 2008 with the Swedish Skanska-co-owned Gdansk Transport Company S.A. (GTC). The 30-year-maturity loan has been provided for Phase 2 of building the A1 dual-carriage motorway in Poland.

When the new 62-kilometre stretch is completed in late 2011, the ready section of the A1, “Amber One”, motorway will comprise 152 kilometres linking the harbour city of Gdansk on the Baltic Sea coast to the city of Torun in the central part of the country. The road at full length will continue across Poland to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

NIB has been financing the A1 construction since 2005, when a loan was provided for Phase 1 of the road launched in October 2008.

“The new motorway project will boost the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea region by providing a new north-south transport corridor,” says Johnny Åkerholm, NIB President and CEO.

GTC is a special-purpose enterprise established for the construction of the motorway which is being carried out as public private partnership (PPP). GTC has been granted the Polish government’s concession lasting until 2039. The company is a joint venture with Swedish Skanska Infrastructure Development AB as a major shareholder. Other shareholders are British John Laing Infrastructure Ltd., Polish NDI Autostrada Sp. z o.o., and South African Intertoll Infrastructure Developments BV.

The loan agreement with GTC was signed at a ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland. The motorway project has also received loan financing from the European Investment Bank and the Swedish Export Credit Corporation.

NIB is a multilateral financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact

Mr Yngve Söderlund, Senior Manager Lending, at +358 10 618 0239,

Mr Dimitrijs Alehins, Communications Specialist, at +358 10 618 0296,