The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and Estonia’s AS LHV Pank have signed an agreement to launch a 20 million euro loan program for onlending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Estonia.
The funds under the five-year loan program will be on lent for various SME investments. The loan allocations are expected to fulfil the eligibility criteria for a good rating for loan programs to SMEs. As a segment, SMEs produce approximately three quarters of the total added value of Estonia’s economy, which is more than the EU average, NIB said in a press release.
AS LHV Pank is part of AS LHV Group, a financial group established in 1999. LHV is the largest domestically owned banking group and the fourth largest in terms of assets in Estonia. The bank has a strong focus on lending to SMEs in sectors such as real estate, financial services, manufacturing, and transport and logistics.
NIB is an international 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.
