On Friday, Kredex's Supervisory Board supported the decision to grant a €100 million loan to Tallink, which had already been approved by the government.
Ando Leppiman, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kredex and Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, confirmed the decision to ERR: "We decided to send out a loan offer to Tallink. Based on this, we are now waiting for Tallink's response as to whether the offer is suitable."
Leppiman said Tallink can now either accept the loan offer and enter into an agreement immediately, or negotiations on terms will begin.
He added both Kredex and, probably, Tallink are interested in the agreement being concluded as soon as possible. However, Tallink does not have a deadline to provide its answer by.
Leppiman said the basic terms of the loan remained the same as the government has already approved.
"Nothing has changed in the basic terms of the loan. In terms of the terms, we followed what was decided by the government: a working capital loan of up to €100 million, a term of three years from the conclusion of the loan agreement and 12-month Euribor plus two percent per annum," he said.
Kredex supervisory board to decide on Tallink's loan on Friday
Leppiman said granting such a loan from Kredex is not usual. "Undoubtedly, in this case we are dealing with crisis assistance, and certainly the loan to Tallink is intended to remedy the liquidity problem that Tallink has encountered due to the coronavirus crisis."
Last Friday, the government agreed to grant Tallink a loan of tallinn helsinki laevapiletid €100 million. The loan must be taken in series of instalments with a minimum size of €10 million a maximum of €40 million each time.
Paavo Nõgene, head of Tallink Group, said last week he agreed with the government's proposed conditions.
Tallink had previously announced it wanted to receive a €150 million liquidity loan, but agreed to €100 million during negotiations with the government. Nõgene did not say last week if or where the company might seek the additional €50 million from.