Baltic, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Forum, Investments

During a conference organized in Riga on February 27, representatives of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund along with representatives of Three Seas region states talked about needs of the Three Seas region and multilateral cooperation. The size of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund is expected to be EUR 3-5 bn. Founding members of the Fund, BGK - Poland’s development bank and Romania’s Exim Bank have already committed over half a bn euro. The financial resources of the 3SIIF will come from the entities from other Three Seas countries and other investors from all over the world.

The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund is a joint initiative of 12 state national development institutions located between the Baltic, the Black and the Adriatic Sea with the aim of supporting the implementation of transport, energy and digital infrastructure projects in the region, including Latvia. The Fund is currently engaging in promotional activities in the capital cities of member states raising awareness about the 3SIIF.

“The conference in Riga is another vital step to expand public awareness of the Three Seas Investment Fund – a financial instrument, complementary to the EU funds and instruments and national budgets, based on commercial rules. During the Riga meeting we have signed an agreement with Amber Infrastructure to be the Investment Advisor to the Fund. This is a crucial moment for the Fund, as from this moment the Fund begins to act operationally” - said Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, the President of the Supervisory Board of the 3SIIF.

“The Fund’s aim is to contribute to the implementation of many infrastructure projects in transport, energy and digital in the whole region, including Latvia” - added Daszyńska-Muzyczka. “Investments in transport projects will boost trade in the region, while improving north-south energy infrastructure connectivity will enhance security. We have to jointly improve competitiveness of the region, which is the only way to achieve a united and sustainable EU,” said Daszyńska-Muzyczka.

 “Large scale projects from Latvia as well as projects from other countries from the region can already apply for 3SIIF funding, which supplements existing funding opportunities. It can help catalyse existing and new infrastructure projects in the fields of transport, energy and digital infrastructure. Our experience allows us to take a part in the initial evaluation of projects before they’re passed into the hands of world-class investment funds,” commented Reinis Bērziņš, ALTUM Chairman of the Management Board and Member of the Supervisory Board of the 3SIIF.

Representatives of the national development institutions of six Central European and Eastern European countries, including ALTUM, signed the letter of intent on founding the 3SIIF at a summit in Bucharest in September 2018. Funding allocated to infrastructure projects will not be determined by how much each country has committed to the Fund.

The conference in Riga was the third event promoting 3SIIF activity after previous events in Poland and Romania. The event brought together representatives of the 3SIIF, Three Seas states representatives, Latvian decision-makers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. 

The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund is an economic dimension of the political platform – the Three Seas Initiative. The Fund complements and strengthens the

capital deployment of individual Three Seas countries and European Union financial

instruments. It is a commercial and market driven initiative that will grant a diversified investment and an attractive return to the investors.

The member states of the Three Seas Initiative, which have confirmed their political will and readiness to strengthen their own and regional competitiveness, are Latvia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. These countries cover 30% of the EU’s territory and 25% of its population (111 million people).

The goals of the Three Seas Initiative are:

• To boost connectivity within the region, on energy, transport infrastructure, and digital communication;
• To stimulate economic development, contributing to east–west and north–south cohesion within the European Union;
• To facilitate achieving real convergence among EU Member States and strengthen the European Union as a whole.

ALTUM is a Latvia state-owned finance institution that ensures access of enterprises and households to the financial resources by means of support financial instruments - loans, guarantees, investments in venture capital funds - in the areas defined as important and to be supported by the state, thus developing the national economy and consequently enhancing mobilization of the private capital and financial resources. In  2017 ALTUM received international credit rating Baa1 by Moody’s. On 24 October 2017 the bonds issued by ALTUM were quoted on a regulated market – Baltic Bond List of Nasdaq Riga.

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) is a Polish state development bank that initiates and implements projects promoting economic growth in Poland and enhancing the quality of citizens’ lives.  BGK develops guarantees and sureties schemes that contribute to commercial development. One of the important tasks of BGK is also to support the activities of Polish companies abroad. BGK manages European programs and distributes EU funds at the national and regional level. BGK is also involved in programs aiming at improving access to housing on the residential market.

EximBank has been actively involved for more than 25 years in supporting and promoting the Romanian business environment by endorsing the local companies’ projects. Starting up as an export agency, EximBank has evolved and extended this role keeping its unique profile on the market. Acting as Romanian state agent for guarantees and insurance, EximBank is the main channel for infusing the Romanian state funds into the real economy in order to sustain increasing competitiveness of local companies.