Mini Conference „Equity investments in infrastructure and innovation in Three Seas“

Opportunities for private equity investments in the infrastructure of the Three Seas region is the theme of a mini-conference to be hosted by the Bulgarian Development Bank on 13 June 2022 at the Hyatt Hotel. 

The conference is aimed at representatives of insurance and pension companies, financial intermediaries and venture capital funds in Bulgaria, who will be able to learn about the investment policy of the Three Seas Fund and the principles of the Fund's operations, as well as discuss with representatives of the Fund issues on the advantages of the infrastructure financial asset class and the opportunities for portfolio investments in the main sectors funded under the initiative: energy, transport and digitalization.

The event will be opened by the National Coordinator of the Three Seas Initiative and Minister of Innovation and Growth, Daniel Lorer, the Executive Director of BDB, Tanko Arabadzhiev, and the Chairman of the Financial Control Commission, Boyko Atanasov. Joe Phillips and Dorin Alexandru-Badea from Amber Infrastructure Ltd., the co-adviser of the Three Seas Investment Fund (3SIIF), representatives of the Financial Supervisory Commissions of Bulgaria and Romania and the Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) will take part in the event.

The conference, moderated by BDB Chief Economist, Iliya Lingorski, is focused on the opportunities open to institutional investors to participate in the benefits of the region's recovery and development. The importance of cooperation in specific sectors has increased even more since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Sofia Forum takes place just days after the Initiative's Investment Fund event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. From 22 to 25 May 2022, discussions there focused on the energy transformation of the Three Seas region, trade potentials, international investment, infrastructure and the possible digital revolution.

The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) was launched in 2015 at presidential level as a platform to provide strong political support for accelerated economic development and enhanced intra-regional and cross-border cooperation and connectivity between the 12 EU Member States bordering the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. The strategic partners of the Three Seas Initiative are the European Commission, Germany and the USA. In July 2021, Bulgaria hosted the Sixth Summit and Business Forum of the Initiative.

The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (3SIIF) is a funding instrument for key connecting infrastructure projects in the Three Seas region. The main objective of the fund is to invest on market principles in transport, energy and digital infrastructure along the north-south axis of the 3SI countries, combining public financial resources and the efforts of national development banks from the region with private equity to optimally share risk and overcome market failures.

The Bulgarian Development Bank has been a shareholder in the 3SIIF since 2020. Following Bulgaria's initiative, announced in Sofia during the 6th Summit last year, BDB is working with the other development banks, which are shareholders in the 3SIIF, and with the assistance of the European Investment Fund to establish a second fund under the Initiative in the near future. The investment policy and activities of the new fund will focus on innovative and high-tech projects and companies in the region with high growth potential. The Three Seas Innovation Fund will provide pension funds and institutional investors from the Three Seas region and from the more developed EU economies as well as global institutional investors with new opportunities for a diversified approach to portfolio investments in high yielding assets with growth potential