The Memorandum of Partnership between the Government of Karelia and Västerbotten County Administrative Board concerning establishing and development of eco-efficient communities is signed

The Memorandum of Partnership between the Government of the Republic of Karelia and Västerbotten County Administrative Board (the Kingdom of Sweden) concerning establishing and development of eco-efficient communities is to be signed in the Ministry of Economic Development on November, 23. On the part of Karelia the document was signed by Valentin Luntsevich, Deputy Head of the Republic of Karelia, senior adviser for Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) Henrik Forsström signed it on behalf of Sweden.

Valentin Luntsevich has expressed gratitude to the Swedish party for their initiative and support in promotion of modern projects concerning introduction and propagation of ecological and energy-saving technologies in Karelia. "Signing of the Memorandum of Partnership on the eve of the international forum Investments in the Future to be held in the republic completely corresponds to the idea of this important action for Karelia," – Deputy Head of the Republic said.

In September, 2010 Västerbotten County Administrative Board has suggested to continue teamwork on modernization and improvement of municipal infrastructure of Karelia. Sweden, as a part of the Baltic region, has initiated various ecological projects and aspires to combine efforts of neighbouring countries of the region in their implementation as effectively as possible. The parties have already put into effect a number of activities in the sphere of central heating, power saving, refuse and sewage collection - in the period from April to August of 2011 work in Karelia was focused on the project of Energy Plan for the City of Kostomuksha. Financial and technical support of projects is rendered by Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), other sources of financing are also involved.

During the meeting in the Ministry of Economic Development representatives of Nordic Environment Finance Corporation have told about results of the energy plan project. In particular, executive director of SWECO Systems, Kjell Blombäck has noted that on results of the research the loss of energy on objects of infrastructure in Kostomuksha exceed losses on similar objects in the north of Sweden four times. The Swedes suggest Karelia to use their energy-saving technologies, models of recycling of consumed heat, the system of rational planning according to devices of strict assessment of energy consumption.

According to the signed Memorandum, Energy Plan for the City of Kostomuksha is considered a pilot project built so that it is was possible to be used in other regions of Karelia as the main energy plan indicating the activities necessary for power-saving and power-efficiency of regions of the republic.

Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) intends to continue financing of small projects within the framework of Eco-Efficient Communities project relying on results of previous researches. It is supposed that expert work in projects-to be will be performed by companies from Västerbotten and engaging Swedish companies working in the sphere of municipal infrastructure. In the future NEFCO will also make efforts to use other opportunities to finance corresponding investment projects.