NEFCO Nordic Environment Finance : Agricultural project in Kaliningrad to benefit the Baltic Sea

NEFCO and the Danish company Rus Agro Team A/S have signed a loan agreement aimed at introducing a range of investments that will result in environmental benefits at the company's farm in the Kaliningrad Region in Russia. Among other things, Rus Agro will upgrade its fleet of agricultural machinery, modernise the farm's manure treatment and reduce the use of chemicals and fertilisers by adopting new distribution technology.

With the help of these measures, the project at hand is expected to reduce the annual consumption of fossil diesel fuel by some 260, 000 litres, which translates into a reduction of some 704 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Moreover, the investment will cut the annual discharges of phosphorus and nitrogen into the surrounding watercourses by 47 and 183 tonnes respectively. This will also benefit the adjacent marine environment since the farm is located close to the city of Nesterov in the Baltic Sea catchment basin.

Rus Agro Team A/S is a subsidiary of FSV Invest Aps, a family-owned holding company. FSV Invest owns all the shares in Rus Agro Team A/S and thereby controls the farming activities in Kaliningrad. Rus Agro Team A/S has managed a farm in the Kaliningrad Region since 2014. The farm has some 550 milking cows and maintains the production of barley, rapeseed and wheat. Plans are now underway to expand the area under cultivation from 6,000 hectares to 7,000 hectares within the next three years.

The ecological state of the Baltic Sea remains a key priority and focus area for NEFCO's investment portfolio also after the new agreement on NEFCO's mandate signed in Helsinki in December last year. In 2015, NEFCO managed to reduce phosphorus discharges into the Baltic Sea by 1,172 tonnes thanks to the Corporation's investments in water and agricultural projects.

As regards the Kaliningrad Region in Russia, NEFCO has, among other things, co-financed the refurbishment and modernisation of the wastewater treatment plant in Zelenogradsk. The plant is now largely fulfilling the expected effluent requirements defined by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM). Rus Agro Team's upcoming investment is NEFCO's first agricultural project in the Kaliningrad Region.