Nefco (Nordic Environment Finance Corporation)
Company typeInternational financial institutions
IndustryFinancing
HeadquartersHelsinki, Finland
AUM€598 million
Websitewww.nefco.int

The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (Nefco) is an international finance institution. Nefco was established by the Nordic governments Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in 1990.[1] In Eastern Europe, Nefco primarily finances municipal projects. Additionally, Nefco works with several green initiatives from the Arctic to Africa. Nefco is headquartered in Helsinki.

Nefco has a broad range of projects spread across different sectors, including: chemical, mineral and metals, food and engineering, agriculture, water treatment, power utilities, municipal services, waste management, nuclear remediation, environmental management and environmental equipment manufacturing.

To provide the capital necessary to support projects, Nefco works with its own paid-in capital and a series of different funding bodies. Nefco manages a number of trust funds and facilities such as the Nordic Project Fund (Nopef),[2] the Arctic Council's Project Support Instrument, the HS Barents Hot Spots Facility, Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa, and a range of funds of the Governments of the Nordic countries. Nefco also implements projects funded by various public programmes of the European Union,[3][4][5] along with multilateral development programmes such as the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P)[6] and the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP).

Nefco-funded projects are usually run in partnership with the enterprise or organisation that 'owns' the project. Emphasis is placed on direct investments from, for example, public-private partnerships and corporate public services.

Activities in Russia and Belarus

The European Union sanctioned various Russian companies and individuals in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Nefco winded down most of its cooperative projects. After the disputed Belarusian election in 2020 and the sequential protests, no new projects were funded in Belarus.[7]

Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Nefco suspended the last remaining projects in the Russian Federation.[8]

References

  1. ^ "About Nefco". Nefco. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Nopef – Helping Nordic green solutions to global markets". Nopef. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  3. ^ "The EU provides EUR 50 million to repair critical infrastructure as part of Nefco's green recovery activities in Ukraine". Nefco. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  4. ^ "European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+)". international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  5. ^ "E5P Grant Agreement signed for NEFCO's Energy Efficiency project in Georgia". e5p.eu. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  6. ^ "E5P Implementing Agencies". e5p.eu. EASTERN EUROPE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ENVIRONMENT PARTNERSHIP. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. ^ "EU sanctions and projects in Belarus and Russia". Nefco. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  8. ^ "EU sanctions and projects in Belarus and Russia". Nefco. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
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