Lenders to discuss Russia eco-projects in Stockholm
Date: 10-Sep-01
Country: FINLAND
The conference will be the first steering group meeting of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP), an initiative endorsed by the European Union's Gothenburg summit in June, the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) said.
The meeting will bring together officials from NIB, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, the World Bank, the Commission in Brussels, and the Russian Federation, NIB said.
Finland and Sweden have spearheaded a "Northern Dimension" of the EU, to involve regions in northern Russia in environment and infrastructure projects and to promote stability by bridging the gap in living standards between Russia and the West.
"The aim of NDEP is to mobilise financing of infrastructure and environmental investments in the Northern Dimension area, mainly in the Baltic and Barents Sea areas," NIB said.
"The environmentally most challenging projects are in northwestern Russia," it said.
Earlier this year, ahead of the Gothenburg summit, the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is the EU's international lending organisation, cleared the way for support for its participating in funding projects in Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of a visit to Finland earlier this week, said Russia wanted to see more concrete projects in the Northern Dimension.
Finland has been keen to move ahead with funding for a waste-water treatment plant in St Petersburg, urban waste from which is a major source of pollution in the Baltic Sea.
Another waste-water treatment project in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad is also being discussed within the Northern Dimension.
Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said either this week the decision to allow the EIB to join funding of environmental projects in Russia amounted to a breakthrough for the Northern Dimension.
