Loan Programme launched for women entrepreneurs in Lithuania

While NIB has the majority of its loans in the Nordic countries, it has been very active also in the emerging markets. NIB finances projects in some 40 countries worldwide. Manufacturing is the largest sector in NIB’s Nordic lending operations. NIB’s international lending operations have been dominated by loans to infrastructure investments, most noteworthy in transportation and communication as well as the energy sector. NIB has focused especially on the environment and energy investment financing. Environmental loans constitute one of the cornerstones in NIB’s lending operations.

In Lithuania NIB has been active in financing ever since the establishment of the Baltic Investment Programme (BIP) in 1992 on the basis of a joint declaration signed by the Nordic and Baltic countries. The first loan to Lithuania was made in 1994 under BIP. BIP was established initially for a three-year period and was extended in 1995 for another four years. BIP put special emphasis on the SME-sector and NIB granted total loans of EUR 60 million to the three Baltic countries under the programme. BIP ended by the end of 1999. As of year-end 2002, there are still outstanding loans amounting to EUR 21,3 million under BIP.

Apart from BIP and SME-sector, NIB has been involved in a number of bigger projects in Lithuania both in the private and public sectors. These projects include among other, road improvement, wastewater treatment, energy savings for schools, ports and telecommunication. Totally, NIB had at the end of 2002 17 outstanding or committed loans to Lithuania in a total amount of EUR 122,3 million.

NIB has been actively working for women entrepreneurs in the Baltic countries since 2000, through a loan facility of EUR 1 million, which was part of the BIP-Programme. This facility was launched during the 1st conference on Women and Democracy held in Reykjavik in October 1999 and the outcome was reported on at the 2nd conference held in Vilnius in June 2001. The funds were made available in the form of medium-term loans to commercial projects. The loan facility was channelled trough financial institutions acting as financial intermediaries in each Baltic country. The financial intermediary in Lithuania was Lithuanian Development Bank, currently UAB Sampo Bankas. The facility, through which a total of 44 projects have been financed, was fully utilised already by September 2000. Retailing, manufacturing and medical services were the dominant sectors in all three countries. In Lithuania the total facility of EUR 330,000 went to 12 projects. Through the access to loans, the women entrepreneurs were encouraged to expand their businesses – in some cases even cross-boarder expansions were made.

Encouraged by the positive response and success of this facility, NIB made an evaluation of the programme and decided in 2002 to continue supporting women entrepreneurship through further financing of projects. NIB has launched new facilities initially in Estonia and Lithuania. The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and NIB have established a loan programme in Lithuania totalling EUR 3 million through two financial institutions acting as financial intermediaries; UAB Sampo Bankas and AB Ðiauliø Bankas. The loan agreements were signed with the intermediaries by year-end 2002. In Lithuania NIB and CEB are co-operating also with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, which is providing funds for technical assistance for projects enhancing women entrepreneurship.

NIB is planning to launch similar facilities for women entrepreneurs in Latvia and is also exploring possibilities in Northwest Russia.