2. Officially supported export finance in Finland

Since 1999, Finnvera Oyj (’Finnvera') has been Finland’s official ECA, founded as a merger of the Finnish Guarantee Board and Kera Plc. Finnvera’s mission is rather broad, but not unlike those of other ECAs, to “[promote] the internationalisation and exports of companies, complementing financial services and contributing to positive regional development." (Finnvera, 2024, p. 9) Similar to ‘Team France’ and ‘Team Sweden’, Finland’s ECA is one of the core members of the ‘Team Finland’ network of public organisations, agencies and companies that promote Finnish exports and investments in Finland (Team Finland, n.d.).

Other members include Finland’s Climate Fund and Finnfund, which provides long-term financing for private-sector projects in developing countries and has its own ‘Climate Statement’ (Finnfund, 2022, n.d.), as well as four different ministries.

As a consolidated public agency, Finnvera – to a lesser extent – is also a domestic financier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (see further Finnvera, 2024a).

The Finnish state owns the entire share of Finnvera and tasks are defined by a legal act: Finnvera’s Supervisory Board supervises the administration, its Board of Directors is responsible for key policies, principles and guidelines, and the CEO is responsible for operational administration (Klasen, 2023). Thus, Finnvera makes its financing decisions independent from the Finnish government and has to be economically self-sustaining.

Thus receiving credit ratings by agencies such as Fitch or Moody’s (Finnvera, n.d.).

However, if Finnvera’s reserves are insufficient to cover losses, Finland’s State Guarantee Fund steps in which is supplemented by appropriations from the state budget, when necessary (ibid.).

The Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (työ- ja elinkeinoministeri; ‘MEAE’) sets midterm goals for Finnvera while not intervening in its everyday business such as financing decisions (e.g., Klasen, 2023). Finnvera’s strategy defines export promotion, growth and internationalisation as the ECA’s key mandates (Finnvera, n.d.b). When it comes to socially or environmentally risky or sensitive projects, Finnvera follows a set of elaborate political guidelines, especially regarding reporting and due diligence requirements (Finnvera, 2023a). Investment decisions need to follow sustainable investment principles (Finnvera, 2024g) which also determine excluded investments due to environmental, ethical and financial reasons, as set out in government guidelines.

As illustrated in Table 1, Finnvera’s main sectors of support are highly concentrated.

Table 1: Overview of Finnvera