Today, on May 25th, at the press-conference held at the Ministry of Economics and Communications, KredEx signed the agreement of renovation-loan for apartment-buildings with Swedbank and SEB bank who will issue the above-mentioned loan.

 

According to the Ministry of Economics and Communications Mr Juhan Parts energy efficiency is a very important topic. “Most of the apartment buildings built during the Soviet time are not energy efficient and the inhabitants are literally heating the air around them. The complex reconstruction of the apartment building provides maximum energy efficiency and improves the living conditions of the inhabitants of these buildings. Saving on the heating expenses that is achieved thanks to reconstruction works allows to cover the necessary investments during a longer period. Renovation of apartment buildings also encourages directly the construction market of Estonia,” said Mr Parts.

 

According to the head of KredEx, Mr Andrus Treier, KredEx allows the banks by combining the finances from the structural funds of the EU and the additional loan from the of The Council of Europe Development Bank, to issue more advantageous loans with a longer refunding period (up to 20 years) to apartment buildings constructed before 1993.

 

„The aim of the renovation loan is to improve the energy efficiency of apartment buildings at least by 20% in the apartment buildings with the area of up to 2000 m² and by at least 30% in the apartment buildings with the area of more than 2000 m²,“ added Mr Andrus Treier.

 

The representative of the German Development Bank KfW Bankengruppe Mr Martin Link, who was the consultant of the work team developing the loan scheme said that Estonia is the first country where this type of a reuse of European Union structural funds is being launched.  “As I have been connected with this project from the very beginning, I am happy today that the process has ended and the project will be launched,” he added.

 

The minimum loan sum for the renovation loan of the apartment building is 100,000 EEK and the loan interest is fixed for 10 years (less than 5 %). The prerequisite for the loan is an energy audit for the apartment building where the most important renovation works have been mentioned, as the loan finances only the renovation works mentioned in the energy audit. With energy audits compiled since May 7th 2009 one must present an overall project of reconstruction works based on the energy audit. It should show the calculated rate of energy efficiency by activities (the relevance of which has been approved by the company performing the energy audit) that is hoped to be achieved through the renovation loan.

 

According to the head of the department of small enterprises of Swedbank Mr Janis Pugri the advantageous loan offered by KredEx is providing the best chance ever to use long-term loans for making apartment buildings more energy efficient.

 

“We are happy that as a result of a procurement organized by KredEx, Swedbank got the biggest amount of the issued resources, which is 516 million EEK. In the bigger apartment buildings it’s possible to achieve immediately significant energy efficiency thanks to the well-planned investment, which at the same time might not increase the expenses for the apartment owners,” added Mr Pugri.

 

According to the board-member of SEB, Mr Erki Pugal, the loan that favours the energy efficiency of apartment buildings is a positive example of how financing can actually help to economize. “Taking any loan should be a well-calculated decision.  That is why it’s especially pleasant that the demands of the current programme direct the apartment associations to use calculated renovation solutions. SEB has a 9-year-long experience in financing apartment associations,“ said Mr Pugal.

 

The renovational loan of the apartment buildings is being financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

 

Additional information on terms of the loan: www.seb.ee/yhistu, www.swedbank.ee/business.