The Nordic Investment Bank sign EUR 34.8 million loan agreement with Klaipedos Nafta AB to finance liquefied natural gas terminal in Lithuania

HELSINKI, 28-11-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has signed a EUR 34.8 million loan agreement with Klaipedos Nafta AB to finance a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Port of Klaipeda, Lithuania. The project will increase the security of the country’s natural gas supply and improve its competitiveness.

The 20-year maturity loan for the LNG terminal allows Lithuania to purchase natural gas from several global suppliers. Before the terminal, Lithuania purchased all of its natural gas via a pipe from a single supplier and paid among the highest prices in the European Union.

The infrastructure consists of a floating storage and regasification unit, an offshore jetty facility located in the Port of Klaipeda and a gas pipeline connecting the facility to the national gas grid. The terminal will start operations on 3 December. This is the first terminal of its kind in the Baltic countries.

“We hope that NIB’s long-term loan for the LNG terminal will increase Lithuania’s competitiveness and energy security and help it to further integrate into the European energy market,” says Henrik Normann, NIB President & CEO.

“We are delighted to conclude this loan agreement with NIB today. This long-term loan will enable further financing of the LNG terminal. So far, the project has been financed from our funds and a loan from the European Investment Bank. The financing from NIB is very important in order to continue the implementation of the project, which brings competition to the Lithuanian gas market for the first time ever,” says Mantas Bartuska, CEO of Klaipedos Nafta.

Terminal operator Klaipedos Nafta AB is a majority state-owned oil and gas company. The government of Lithuania appointed Klaipedos Nafta to develop the LNG terminal project in 2010.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact
Mr Vilius Girkontas, Senior Manager Origination, at +358 10 618 0240,
vilius.girkontas@nib.int
Mr Arild Moen, Senior Communications Officer, at +358 10 618 0496,
arild.moen@nib.int

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The LNG tanker Independence, a floating factory for converting liquefied natural gas into a burnable variety, moored on the Klaipedos LNG terminal on 27 October 2014. Photo: Kestutis Fedirka