NIB finances Estonian Drone Technology Infrastructure

• NIB and Estonian Metrosert AS have signed a 10-year loan agreement to finance investments in a new Drone Technology Unit within the Applied Research Centre in Tallinn, Estonia.
• The EUR 11.4 million loan will finance the unit, which will include laboratories supporting the development and life cycle of unmanned vehicles.
• The investment is part of a broader government-backed initiative to enhance Estonia's national R&D capacity. Most activities at the unit will be related to defence.

The Drone Technology Unit is designed to focus on R&D in unmanned aviation, communications, navigation, flight physics, and hardware security. It will consist of laboratories designed to validate and industrialise unmanned systems across the air, ground, and maritime domains.

The unit is part of the recently established Applied Research Centre in Estonia and is planned to become fully operational during summer 2027.

The total costs of establishing the Drone Technology Unit between 2025 and 2027 will be EUR 17.4 million, and EUR 42.9 million for the whole Applied Research Centre.

"To meet the growing demand for testing drones designed for military use, the new unit will offer companies across the Nordic-Baltic region a platform to accelerate product development-an essential step in strengthening the region's defence and resilience," says André Küüsvek, NIB President and CEO.

"By combining scientific expertise, state-of-the-art laboratories, defence-driven use cases and strong industrial partnerships, the new Drone Technology Unit will provide companies with a realistic environment to validate and mature their unmanned systems faster and more reliably. It is a major step towards building a coordinated, world-class drone ecosystem in Estonia and across the Nordic-Baltic region," says Rainer Kivimäe, Head of Drone Technologies Unit at Metrosert's Applied Research Centre.

Metrosert is Estonian RTO (research and technology organization) and National Metrology Institute. Its Applied Research Center focuses on five fields: drone technologies, autonomous vehicles, hydrogen technologies, biorefining and health data. The state-owned company employs around 130 professionals and supports sustainable growth through applied research, measurement and quality systems, and industry-academia collaboration.

NIB is the international financial institution of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. The Bank finances projects that improve productivity and benefit the environment of the Nordic-Baltic region. The Bank is headquartered in Helsinki with a regional hub in Riga. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with S&P Global Ratings and Moody's.

For further information, please contact

Liisa Vuorinen, Senior Banker, +358 10 618 0248, [email protected]

Tommy Hellström, Communications Officer, +358 10 618 0214, [email protected]

Metrosert

Kadri Siirak, Head of Communications and Marketing, +372 53 577 9626, [email protected]