Lithuania has joined the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund
UAB Viešųjų Investicijų Plėtros Agentūra (VIPA) representing the state of Lithuania on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania has committed to invest EUR 20 million in the Three Seas Initiative (hereinafter – 3SI) Investment Fund (hereinafter – 3SIIF) and became its full-fledged member.
The President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda presented Lithuania’s decision to join the 3SIIF at the Three Seas Virtual Summit and Web Forum held in Tallinn on 19 October 2020.
The Three Seas Initiative is a political platform for political cooperation at the level of leaders established in 2015. 12 EU states located between the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Sea are a part of this initiative, including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. The USA, Germany and the European Commission partner with the 3SI.
The aim of the 3SIIF is to invest in transport, energy and digital infrastructure in 3SI countries and to help to tackle development disparities between separate EU regions. It plays an important role in complementing and strengthening the use of capital of individual 3SI countries and EU financial instruments.
There currently are 9 countries that have joined or are in the process of joining 3SIIF, which have contributed or committed to contribute the following amounts to the fund: Poland – EUR 550 million, Romania – EUR 200 million, Slovenia – EUR 23 million, and Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Croatia – EUR 20 million each.
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania decided to join the 3SI Investment Fund and invest EUR 20 million in this fund on 16 September 2020. The national promotional institution – the public limited liability company Viešųjų Investicijų Plėtros Agentūra was delegated to represent the state of Lithuania in the acquisition of Class A shares of the 3SI Investment Fund.
Lithuania’s participation in the 3SIIF increases the opportunities of funding national infrastructure projects, strengthens the Euro-Atlantic partnership and cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries and its neighbours.
Conference of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund
On 17 November, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and UAB Viešųjų Investicijų Plėtros Agentūra (VIPA) held a conference of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (hereinafter – 3SIF) where representatives of the fund introduced to entrepreneurs the opportunities to use the fund’s financing for investments in Lithuania and revealed in detail the fund’s investment directions, investment and evaluation criteria.
Representatives of Lithuanian institutions presented the development directions, the implementation of which would entitle projects to the financing from the 3SIF.
“At the beginning of the year, VIPA representing the state of Lithuania by the resolution of the Government became a full-fledged participant in the Fund, investing EUR 20 million and thus opening up a new opportunity for project developers from Lithuania to receive financing for the implementation of large infrastructure projects in the fields of transport, energy and digitalisation. Our employees participate in the Fund’s supervisory board and the board, and we are actively involved in the Fund’s activities. Accordingly, our function in Lithuania is to become a bridge connecting potential project promoters and potential investors,” says Gvidas Dargužas, CEO of VIPA.
