Finland was granted permission to insure short-term exports to Western industrialised countries under specific conditions
Finnvera has been given a limited option, available until the end of 2015, to guarantee export transactions with a credit period of under two years for the following countries:
- the EU Member States except Greece (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom)
- Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America
On 6 March 2013 the European Commission granted Finnvera permission to insure short-term exports to the above-mentioned countries in the following cases, where the Commission sees a market failure.
- when the applicant is an SME with a total annual export turnover of at most two million euros;
- when credit insurance is sought for a single export transaction which has a risk period of at least 181 days and at most two years.
Finnvera can only insure transactions in cases where a private insurer has denied cover. If the export transaction meets the above-mentioned condition 1 OR 2, and a private credit insurer is unable to cover the risk, the exporter may apply for insurance from Finnvera. Finnvera assesses the buyer’s creditworthiness according to its normal risk appraisal practice.
The permission is valid until the end of 2015.
The permission does not apply to Greece where, according to the Commission’s assessment, a general market failure prevails. Finnvera can therefore insure exports to Greece after careful risk assessment even when the conditions of the temporary permission are not fulfilled.
Read also: Export > Export Credit Guarantees > International co-operation > European Union
Additional information:
Eeva-Maija Pietikäinen, Team Leader, tel. +358 29 460 2674
Taru Eskelinen, Senior Adviser, tel. +358 29 460 2670
Pekka Karkovirta, Vice President, tel. +358 29 460 2768
The European Commission’s press release:
