Estonia hosted the Three Seas Virtual Summit. New investment plans were revealed as heads of state and business leaders discussed the future of Central and Eastern Europe as well as funding of international infrastructure projects and digitalization of the energy and transport sectors.

“I am most happy that we managed to deliver what we promised to our partners in this initiative. This has been a year of consolidation. We now have an initiative that has matured and developed from presidential summits into focused and practical regional cooperation format that has a strong emphasis on economy,” President Kersti Kaljulaid said. 

President Kersti Kaljulaid welcomed high-level participants to the event center Kultuurikatel in Tallinn, including the presidents of Bulgaria and Poland. Due to the realities of the coronavirus, most participants attended via live video-link.

Keith Krach, U.S. Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment revealed the plans of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to invest at least €300 million towards the Thee Seas Initiative Investment Fund, making up 30 percent of the fund as it stands at present (i.e. €900 million, raised by partnerships between the 12 states and the private sector globally). The formal decision will be made in December. The U.S. has agreed to extend the pledge to 1 billion on the 30 percent principle, meaning as investments snowball to around €3.4 billion, their contribution reaches 1 billion.

The Polish State Development Bank, represented at the Three Seas Virtual Summit by Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, President of the Management Board of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, announced an additional investment of €250 million into the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, taking Poland’s total contribution so far to €750 million. The first private investor to the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, Amber Infrastructure Group, was also announced.

(WBJ)