>@Tim Smit/EIB

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a SEK 900 million agreement to support investment in local infrastructure in the Nordic countries through the “Infranode I” investment platform. The agreement was made possible by the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), central pillar of the European Commission's Investment Plan for Europe.

“The Nordic infrastructure market has a significant investment backlog and faces limited funding opportunities.” said Jan Vapaavuori, EIB Vice-President. “Many of these projects are relatively small, making it challenging for the EIB to directly support them. It is thanks to Infranode acting as local intermediary that we can lend our financial support here and improve people’s lives. The EFSI guarantee is another important catalyst for our first ever long-term equity injection in a local platform in Sweden.”

Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner, said: "The investment plan plays an important role, and contributes to investments in infrastructure all over Europe. This agreement allows the Nordic countries to benefit even more from this. Europe needs investments – they boost growth and create jobs."

Infranode will address the lacking investments in this area by primarily targeting public and private small and mid-cap infrastructure companies and assets in the Nordics. Its focus will lie on regulated utilities, renewable energy, social and transport infrastructure projects.

“We are very pleased to get such strong support from institutional investors as the EIB, Folksam and KPA Pension. There is a gap between the need for infrastructure development and the public sector’s ability to invest. said Infranode co-founder and partner Christian Doglia. “With our 20 years plus investment horizon, we want to help close that gap by aligning long-term investors and the public sector in working towards a common goal”, said Infranode co-founder and partner Philip Ajina.

The “Infranode I” investment platform has now raised a total of SEK 3.35 billion for essential infrastructure investments in the Nordics. Other institutions who invested alongside the EIB include Folksam, KPA Pension and IMAS Foundation.