From its supplementary budget, the State is capitalising Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, a government-owned equity investor, by EUR 30 million. This measure will promote investments in and the internationalisation of the mining cluster. It will strengthen Finnish ownership of mining companies in their early stages of development and other mining cluster players, while increasing the supply of available funding. Finnish Industry Investment Ltd is also extending its own financing programme for mining, to cover not only mines but the entire mining cluster.
The mining industry is a Finnish growth area. Investments currently underway in Finland amount to approximately one billion euros. The amount of expected investment will grow significantly in the coming years. Each project has a significant impact on local employment, especially during the building and production phases.
Increasing mining operations will also strengthen the Finnish mining cluster. In addition, investments made under Finnish Industry Investment Ltd’s mining investment programme will support the internationalisation of mineral technology companies. In Finland, the mineral cluster employs around 25,000 persons and sectors using minerals as raw material around 250,000.
“It was agreed in the Government Programme that investments would be made in the growing Finnish mining sector. It is natural that a government-owned equity investor should seek to accelerate high-risk mining projects by means of financing, thereby increasing Finnish ownership in the growing mining sector,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Jyri Häkämies.
So far, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd has invested about EUR 40 million in eight mining companies operating in Finland.While the investment targets are Finnish and foreign mining companies, in each case the funding is used to develop projects located in Finland. Finnish Industry Investment Ltd always invests together with private investors. Its share of the funding round and ownership cannot exceed 50%. The mining investments of Finnish Industry Investment Ltd have strengthened the Finnish investor base and increased Finnish investors’ awareness of the sector.
“A programme which syndicates with private investors on a project-specific basis is the most effective and flexible way of strengthening Finnish skills in the mining sector. The sector is currently going through its second wave. The supplementary capitalisation of Finnish Industry Investment Ltd will speed up the realisation of mining projects. In addition, we should not forget the mining cluster, which has great potential to benefit from Finnish expertise in export markets,” says Kimmo Viertola, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd’s Director of the mining investment programme.
One of Finnish Industry Investment Ltd’s aims is to increase the number of mining companies listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. A new mining company will be listed there after the summer, when Sotkamo Silver applies for parallel listing on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, in addition to the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company is likely be followed by others.
Further information:
Director Kimmo Viertola, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, tel. +358 9 6803 6815, kimmo.viertola@industryinvestment.com
Chief Inspector of Mines Riikka Aaltonen, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 50 396 1316, riikka.aaltonen@tem.fi