Slight increase in EIB Group financing in Sweden in 2016

  • Over EUR 630 million in financing for framework loans to municipalities
  • Support under Investment Plan for Europe for SMEs, telecom and editorial sector

The European Investment Bank Group lent EUR 2.02 billion to projects in Sweden last year. Nearly EUR 1.7 billion of this came through lending operations of the European Investment Bank (EIB), with the remainder provided through guarantee transactions with Swedish intermediaries and investment into funds of funds by the European Investment Fund (EIF).

“We are proud to have contributed to the competitiveness of the Swedish economy even more than in 2015. We intend to build on our strong cooperation with Swedish project promoters and investors. The EIB Group stands ready with its technical and financial know-how and will continue to work in the interest of the Swedish people.” said Jan Vapaavuori, EIB Vice-President.

In 2016, no less than eight different companies took out loans for their R&D, expansion or other innovative business plans. EIB’s Stockholm office contributed as a hub for operations to strengthen relationships with Swedish project promoters and authorities, helping to diversify the Bank’s portfolio in the country. The EIF expanded its support for smaller companies in the country, signing eight transactions for a total commitment of EUR 328m in 3 equity (EUR 198m), 3 guarantee (EUR 125m), and 2 microfinance (EUR 6m) transactions, in total aimed at raising EUR 1 billion in risk financing for Swedish Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).

The EIB adopted its Group Gender Strategy in 2016. This means that EIB lending operations will in the future be structured in a way that the protection of women’s rights is part of EIB’s regular due diligence. The goal is to increase the positive impact of EIB operations on gender equality and to target the promotion of women’s economic empowerment. This shall include women’s increased access to employment and to financial services.

Investment Plan for Europe

The guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) enabled the EIB Group to do more innovative and higher-risk financing. In Sweden, this meant support for many SMEs with EIF-financing made available through local financial institutions, as well as EIB loans for the digitalisation of Bonnier’s business model and Tele2’s roll-out of the 4G network. In total, some EUR 1.03 billion of EFSI financing has already been approved since the Investment Plan started in 2015, mobilising a projected total investment in the Swedish economy of EUR 3.49 billion.

There have now been eleven operations that saw financing going to Sweden under the Investment Plan for Europe, meaning that the investment from the EIB is guaranteed by funds from the EU budget.

Background Information:

The European Investment Bank Group consists of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) and has its headquarters in Luxembourg. The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. In 2016 alone, the Bank made available nearly EUR 1.7 bln in loans for Swedish projects in various sectors, including urban development, industry and research. The EIB Group Gender Strategy is available here.

The EIF’s central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. More information on EIF's work under EFSI is available here.

The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth. It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. The Investment Plan is already showing results. The projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI so far are expected to mobilise EUR 168 billion in total investments across 28 Member States and to support 387 000 SMEs. Find the latest EFSI figures by sector and by country here. For more info, see the FAQs.