PRESS RELEASE

Helsinki 25.1.2006

Magnus Rystedt appointed new Managing Director of NEFCO

The Board of Directors of the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) has appointed Magnus Rystedt (Sweden) new Managing Director of NEFCO. Mr Rystedt will take up his appointment on 1 February 2006. He will succeed Mr Harro Pitkänen (Finland), who has been Managing Director of NEFCO since 1993.

Magnus Rystedt, M. Sc. (Civil Engineering), born 1968, has been responsible for NEFCO's activities in Russia since August 2000. He has extensive experience in project financing within the environmental field.

From 1998-2000 Magnus Rystedt served in St. Petersburg as Swedish Team Leader for Stockholm Water, implementing institutional strengthening of the water company Vodokanal. From 1993-1998 he worked with VAI VA-Project AB (currently part of SWECO) developing infrastructure projects mainly in Russia and the Baltic States.

The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation is an international financial institution owned by the five Nordic countries. NEFCO finances investments and projects in Eastern Europe (as of today primarily in Russia and the Ukraine) and for the time being also in the Baltic countries, in order to generate positive environmental effects of interest to the Nordic region. NEFCO was established in 1990 and today administers a number of funds, which through different instruments provide financing for environmental investments. The most important of these is the NEFCO investment fund, which provides equity financing and risk loans. The aggregate amount of funds under management by NEFCO is approx. 200 million euro. NEFCO has its offices in Helsinki in conjunction with the Nordic Investment Bank. www.nefco.org

For further information, please contact:

Mr Karsten Skov, Chairman of the Board (Director, Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Danish Ministry of the Environment) tel: +45 32 660 480 (Danish Environmental Protection Agency / Danish Ministry of the Environment),            mobile +45 23 452505

or Ms Marina Valkonen/ NEFCO, tel: +358 9 1800344, mobile +358 40 7669826