EBRD drives greener agriculture in Baltic states with Scandagra Group

• EBRD extends €30 million sustainability-linked loan to finance Scandagra Group’s working capital needs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
• Backed by InvestEU guarantee, loan includes financial incentives tied to ambitious green targets
• Scandagra to roll out precision-agriculture technologies, improving nutrient-use efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a €30 million sustainability-linked loan to Scandagra Group, a leading agribusiness trader and commodities supplier to more than 6,000 farmers in the Baltic states.

The investment will support Scandagra’s rollout of precision-agriculture technologies across 150,000 hectares of farmland in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania . They include Dataväxt, a digital tool for farmers, and an innovative digital tool for the monitoring, reporting and verification of green activities . These technologies will help farmers optimise fertiliser and pesticide use, which will improve nutrient-use efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 14,000 tonnes of CO₂e annually.

This is Scandagra’s first sustainability-linked loan, structured with incentives for the company to achieve sustainability-linked targets. The loan is backed by a European Union InvestEU guarantee, which contributed to setting up and agreeing highly ambitious, green key performance indicators.

With agrifood systems accounting for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and being a major driver of biodiversity loss, scaling up climate-smart farming practices – such as the precise application of fertiliser – is critical to reducing the sector’s carbon footprint and curbing water pollution and other ecological impacts.

Scandagra is a Sweden-based agribusiness trader and input supplier, jointly owned by the Swedish agribusiness cooperative Lantmännen and the Danish agribusiness cooperative Dansk Landbrugs Grovvareselskab.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in the Baltic states. To date, the Bank has invested €1.31 billion in Estonia, €1.19 billion in Latvia and €1.93 billion in Lithuania.