Nefco

The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) is an international finance institution established in 1990 by the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. To date, NEFCO has financed a wide range of environmental projects in Central and Eastern European countries, including Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. From its headquarters in Helsinki, NEFCO's activities are focused on projects that achieve cost-effective environmental benefits across the region.

NEFCO's portfolio currently comprises nearly 300 small and medium-sized 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 a series of different funding bodies. The most significant of these are the Investment Fund, the Nordic Environmental Development Fund, the Testing Ground Facility carbon fund and the Barents Hot Spots Facility. NEFCO also administers funds on behalf of other parties who are providing resources to environmental projects. These include among others the European Commission and the governments of the Nordic countries.

NEFCO projects are usually run in partnership with the enterprise that 'owns' the project. Emphasis is placed on direct investments from, for example, public-private partnerships and corporate public services. The structure of any project supported by NEFCO needs to create reasonable equilibrium between risk and reward for all interested parties. The aim is to achieve a fair and transparent balance between the structuring of investments and their environmental return. Viewed in the context of associated risk, NEFCO aims to offer competitive terms at all times.

Through its network of partnerships, NEFCO supplements finance from other interested parties and financial institutions. NEFCO also co-operates with bilateral environmental assistance programmes.

External links

• http://www.nefco.org/