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EBRD’s Noreen Doyle to visit Baltic states and Finland
First Vice President will sign deal for Finnish investment in Russian sawmill
EBRD First Vice President Noreen Doyle begins a weeklong visit to the three Baltic states and Finland on Monday. In addition to numerous business meetings, Ms Doyle will see government officials including Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas and the Latvian minister of finance and EBRD governor, Valdis Dombrovskis. Furthermore, she expects to sign a deal with Hansa Capital, the largest leasing company in the Baltic states, on a €30 million credit line on Wednesday in Tallinn.
Ms Doyle concludes her journey in Finland, where she will deliver a keynote address on the EBRD’s role in Russia and the Northern Dimension and expects to sign an agreement with the Finnish company UPM-Kymmene. The EBRD is making an eight-year, €15 million loan to UPM-Kymmene to help finance construction of a sawmill in Pestovo, Novgorod oblast, Russia, to produce sawn white wood, mostly for export. UPM-Kymmene is one of the world’s largest forest products companies. The total project cost is about €47 million.
During her meetings in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Ms Doyle will reiterate how well the region has performed in the first decade of transition. All three countries moved decisively to introduce far-reaching economic reforms and were rewarded with high growth rates. Estonia’s GDP grew by 5.8 per cent in 2002, Latvia recorded 6.1 per cent growth and Lithuania 6.7 per cent.
Ms Doyle will also comment on how the economic transformation is affecting the EBRD’s role in the Baltic states. The Bank remains committed to the region after EU accession next year, putting greater emphasis on the support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), investments in infrastructure, and working with the financial sector. As of the end of 2002, the EBRD had signed 42 projects worth €446 million in Estonia, 24 projects worth €321 in Latvia and 25 projects totalling €407 million in Lithuania.
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