The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to modernise the economy of the Russian Federation.

The EIB and Vnesheconombank agreed to consider making available up to EUR 500 million each to finance projects being in line with their criteria and developed under the Partnership for Modernisation launched by the European Union and Russia at their 25th Summit in 2010.

EIB Vice-President Eva Srejber stated: “This is a significant step towards developing and financing projects of mutual interest of the European Union and the Russian Federation. The new cooperation will enable to benefit from the expertise and financial resources of the EIB and Vnesheconombank. This effort will help to strengthen the economic ties between the EU and Russia in the key sectors relevant for driving the growth and innovation, improving transport, and promoting the sustainable low-carbon economy and energy efficiency and addressing climate action. ”

The potential areas for cooperation involve the areas of the energy efficiency, environment, transport, telecommunications and the EU foreign direct investments related to projects carried out by EU companies in Russia. Both financial institutions will review potential projects initiated by EU and Russian companies or other Russian entities for implementation in Russia, exchange project related information and due diligence results and develop a coordinated approach to implement the individual projects.

Background:

The EIB – the European Union’s bank – finances projects in the Russian Federation on the basis of an EU Council and European Parliament mandate for the Eastern Partner Countries (covering the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) of EUR 3.7 billion for the period 2007-2013. The current mandate provides for the financing of projects that are of significant interest to both the EU and Eastern Partners in the transport, energy, telecommunications and environmental infrastructure sectors.

The EIB has also set up at its own risk the Eastern Partners Facility (EPF) for an amount of EUR 1.5 billion, with a ceiling of EUR 500 million for loans in the Russian Federation. This facility enables the EIB to provide loans to support investment grade projects that sectorwise go beyond the scope of the mandate and helps support EU investment in the region, notably by European corporates.

In the Russian Federation, the EIB has so far provided financing amounting in total to some EUR 470 million supporting environmental projects focused on the improvement of water quality in the Baltic Sea and anti-flood measures in St. Petersburg and upgrading services provided by the telecommunication sector.