1. February 2021
In line with a longer-term strategy and the desire to contribute to Estonia’s climate objectives, LHV Bank has decided that LHV will no longer finance the purchasing of new diesel passenger cars from 2030 onwards.
Although the change will affect leasing operations in nine years’ time, this exclusion has already been included in LHV’s credit policy. By doing so, LHV is acknowledging a longer-term trend, taking a clearer direction in favour of electric vehicles, and reducing the CO2 footprint of LHV’s portfolio.
‘If we look around the world and consider the climate objectives, it becomes apparent that decisions about the future need to be made rather quickly. At LHV, we see the opportunities offered by the green transformation for the economy and we find that contributing to the success of electric cars or hydrogen cars is sensible economically,’ said Erki Link, Head of Leasing Department at LHV. ‘We hope that more and more people will think in an environmentally friendly way when making long-term consumption decisions, and therefore the addition of new diesel cars will end by 2030,’ added Link.
LHV has already launched the green lease, which favours the purchase of the most climate-friendly vehicles. When charging with renewable energy, a fully electric car is currently the most environmentally friendly choice. LHV offers leasing for new fully electric vehicles purchased for regular use on favourable terms: with a down payment starting from 10% of the vehicle’s price, a leasing period of up to 84 months, and an interest rate of 2.29% + 6-month euribor.
As in many other countries, more and more electric cars are reaching Estonian roads. Data from the Transport Administration shows that 482 electric cars were registered in Estonia in 2020, this is 2.8 times more than in the previous year. Several countries are already restricting the availability of diesel cars. For example, the United Kingdom, Denmark and other countries are restricting the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines from 2030, Norway is doing the same already from 2025.
LHV Group is the largest domestic financial group and capital provider in Estonia. LHV Group’s key subsidiaries are LHV Pank, LHV Varahaldus, and LHV Kindlustus. LHV employs over 500 people. LHV’s banking services are used by 247,000 clients, and pension funds managed by LHV have more than 180,000 active clients. LHV’s UK branch offers banking infrastructure to 140 international financial services companies, via which LHV’s payment services reach clients around the world.
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