(Economic Times, Delhi, 24 October 2024) The Export Credit Agencies (ECA) of Germany (Euler Hermes), Austria (OeKB) and Switzerland (Swiss Export Risk Insurance SERV), together with the Swiss Business Hub India and Switzerland Global Enterprise, on Thursday reached out to Indian companies, banks and government institutions for opportunities for investment and cooperation.
Austria
UKEF underwrites financing for another section of Turkish high speed rail network
(Railway Gazette, Sutton, 22 January 2024) The UK government’s export credit agency UKEF has agreed to underwrite a €1·03bn loan arranged by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for three Turkish companies to construct Turkey’s 140 km long Yerköy – Kayseri route modernisation scheme. UKEF has partnered with export credit agencies from Italy (SACE), which reinsured €249m of the guarantee, Poland’s KUKE, which reinsured €205m, and Austria’s OeKB (€176m). A separate €220m commercial loan from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment & Export Credit makes the total financing package worth €1·2bn. [This is the third Turkish high-speed railway to be backed by UK Export Finance and its counterparts in Italy, Poland, and Austria. Combined, the projects amount to some 900km of rail. The two others are the Ankara-Izmir and the Mersin-Gaziantep lines.]
UKEF is not building a multimillion pound railway line in Turkey
(Full Fact, London, 26 July 2023) Earlier this week Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham tweeted a screenshot of a UK government press release with the headline “UK announces £680m for new high-speed electric railway in Turkey”. Alongside the screenshot, Mr Burnham tweeted “So we can’t afford to keep our own ticket offices open – but we can afford to build a new line in Turkey?” Mr Burnham’s suggestion that the UK is financing a new railway line in Turkey is misleading—the £680 million figure used in the government press release refers to a loan provided by three banks (J.P. Morgan, ING Bank and BNP Paribas) which has been underwritten by the UK government’s export credit agency. The Italian, Austrian and Swiss export credit agencies are also providing reinsurance.
OeKB readies debut SRI bond
(Global Capital, London, 5 September 2019) OeKB, Austria’s export credit agency, will go on roadshow next week to present its recently established sustainability bond framework to European investors. BNP Paribas, Danske Bank, HSBC and UniCredit won the mandate and will arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings across Europe, commencing on Friday, September 13. An inaugural bond in the format is expected to follow. A debut euro benchmark sustainability bond in an intermediate maturity may follow subject to market conditions, which will be OeKB’s first ever socially responsible investment (SRI) bond. Under its sustainability bond framework, OeKB can issue green, social and sustainability bonds. OekB has a long-term annual funding requirement of €5bn, comprising two to three benchmark issues, private placements, medium term notes, and issuance in other strategic markets such as sterling and Australian dollars. It has a focus on maturities of up to 10 years. Sustainability Bonds are bonds where the proceeds will be exclusively applied to finance or re-finance a combination of both Green and Social Projects as defined by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) guidelines.
Europe’s German-speaking ECAs ink collaboration pact
(Global Trade Review, London, 19 June 2019) Hermes, OeKB and Serv – the export credit agencies (ECAs) of Germany, Austria and Switzerland respectively – have agreed to join forces to improve opportunities for their exporters in the face of increased competition from Asia. While the statement doesn’t call out China by name, Chinese export credits have long been seen as a competitive threat by Europe’s ECAs. China is not a member of the OECD and is therefore not obliged to comply with the OECD guidelines that stipulate the financial terms and conditions that its members may offer, leaving scope for an unfair advantage for Chinese exporters.
Iran Receives First Round of Post-Sanctions Finance From European Banks and ECAs
(Financial Tribune, Tehran, 23 September 2017) In what were the first finance deals clinched with cautious European banks after the implementation of the nuclear accord provided sanctions relief in January 2016, Iran signed two agreements worth a total of €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) with Austria’s Oberbank and Denmark’s Danske Bank on Thursday. According to Oberbank’s CEO, export credit guarantees covering 99% of a project’s volume will be provided by the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB), the main Austrian body that issues them.
Austria’s OeKB and Australia’s EFIC increase Iran export financing
Austria’s OeKB raises Iran export financing
Press TV, Tehran, 28 September 2016) The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) says Austrian export credit agency OeKB has raised its cover for Iran transactions to 1 billion euros, the Mehr news agency reports. The announcement by Austrian Minister for Finance Hans Jörg Schelling came during a meeting with CBI Governor Valiollah Seif in Vienna, the report said.
Australia hails ‘dawn of new age’ in Iran ties
(Payvand, San Francisco, 28 September 2016) Iran and Australia have signed fresh agreements to forge closer ties, with Austrian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo announcing the dawn of a new age of relationship. Ciobo is leading a trade delegation of more than 20 companies to Tehran, seeking out opportunities, buoyed by the prospects in Iran’s mining, oil and gas, and other industries as well as the near 80 million population. Australia’s export credit agency EFIC and Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) signed a fourth MoU to facilitate trade and help businesses navigate challenges arising from sanctions which still continue to dog dealings with Iran.
European Commission publishes 2012 report on member ECA actvities
(European Commission, Brussels, 7 March 2014) Regulation (EU) No 1233/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the application of certain guidelines in the field of officially supported export credits foresees that Member States shall make available to the Commission an Annual Activity Report in order to step up transparency at Union level. The Commission produces an annual review for the European Parliament based on this information and the present annual review covers the calendar year 2012. Annual Activity Reports have been received from the following Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Andritz receives Austrian “Eyesore of the Year” award
(ECA Watch Austria, Vienna, 21 February 2014) On February 20th, the Austrian company Andritz received the “Eyesore of the Year 2013” award for its involvement in three dam projects with tremendous negative ecological and human rights impacts: Xayaburi in Laos, Belo Monte in Brazil as well as Ilisu in Turkey. At the beginning of the week the company signed contracts for yet another disastrous mega-project: a gigantic pulp mill in the middle of Sumatra’s rainforests. This new project involvement underlines the reasons for Andritz receiving this award, as it continuously takes part in some of the worst projects in the world… Andritz has received export guarantees from Austria’s export credit agency OeKB and when an Asia Pulp & Paper project suffered a financial collapse some years later, Austrian tax payers lost more than EUR40 million… In November 2012 ECA Watch Austria and Friends of the Earth Austria sent a letter to Andritz expressing concern about APP’s track record and offered a meeting with NGO representatives from Indonesia. Despite several attempts at contact, Andritz never reacted to this invitation.
