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ANNOUNCEMENT 16 Apr 2018
In April 2018, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a loan agreement with Vallourec SA to support its steel pipes and tubes manufacturing activities. The loan is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS
2
SOURCE
The European Investment Bank, Financed Projects, VALLOUREC RDI INVESTMENTS AND DIGITALIZATION: http://www.eib.org/en/projects/loan/loan/20170238
The European Investment Bank, Project summary, Project No. 20170238, Project name: VALLOUREC RDI DIGITALIZATION AND INVESTMENTS: http://www.eib.org/en/projects/pipelines/pipeline/20170238
European Commission (13 January 2015): The Investment Plan for Europe: Questions and Answers: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-3223_en.htm
EIB: European Fund for Strategic Investments - Questions and Answers. Available at: http://www.eib.org/attachments/press/investment_plan_for_europe_qa_en.pdf
The loan agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Vallourec SA was signed on 16 April 2018 and has a total value of EUR 110 million (approx. USD 136 million).
More specifically two loan agreements were signed with Vallourec SA to support its steel pipes and tubes manufacturing. EUR 28.6 million (approx. USD 35.4 million) is granted to the company's German activities and EUR 81.4 million (USD 100.7 million) is granted to the company's French activities. Vallourec SA has its headquarters in France.
A state act in the GTA database is assessed solely in terms of the extent to which its implementation affects foreign commercial interests. On this metric, the investment support granted here is discriminatory.
The EIB's loan to Vallourec SA signed on 16 April 2018 was issued under the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI). The loan has a total value of EUR 110 million (approx. USD 136 million) and will support the company's steel pipes and tubes manufacturing. The project will be carried out in France and Germany.
The EFSI is a joint initiative by the EIB and the European Commission to promote investment in Europe. The EIB has designated EUR 7.5 billion of its capital for lending to European projects with a higher risk profile than usually taken on by the bank. To compensate for the increased lending risk, the European Commission has agreed to fully guarantee all lending under the EFSI up to a budget of EUR 26 billion. The loan described was issued under the EFSI and thus benefits from a full guarantee through the EU budget.
EFSI support does not fall under EU State Aid rules as it is meant as a tool to address "market failures or sub-optimal investment situations". However, the investment support does include favourable conditions in the form of public assumption of risk.
As described in the European Commission's Fact Sheet from 13 January 2015: "The type of risk-financing instruments will be designed so as to take uncertainty out ("first loss protection") of as such viable projects and therefore crowd-in private sector investments. Since the EFSI will take riskier tranches in investment projects, the private sector will be able to join under more favourable conditions." Furthermore, the EIB states that "The new initiative [i.e. the EFSI] will benefit from the EIB’s strong credit standing that enables funding at favourable conditions and across maturities".