The support in question is export credit guarantees, which can be described as a kind of state insurance that will promote Swedish companies' exports to countries where they risk not being paid for economic or political reasons.

The guarantees must give the Swedish companies compensation for their goods even if the customer does not pay.

The Swedish agency Exportkreditnämnden, EKN, has provided the guarantees.

In the years 2017-2018, guarantees of SEK 390 million were granted.

In the years 2019-2020, they were 1.9 billion.

A fivefold increase, shows the figures Sweden's nature produced.

Truck from Scania in a coal district in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Among the companies that have received guarantees are Volvo, Scania and Epiroc, and in almost all cases these have been sales to coal operations in Indonesia or South Africa.

"It is likely that business will continue"

- There are several reasons why it has increased in recent years.

One is that the economy and stability in South Africa has deteriorated and that companies have had a greater need to insure their business there, says Beatrice Arnesson, communications manager at EKN and a member of the management team.

Is the increase a last resort for the companies before the stop came into force at the turn of the year?

- No, it does not.

There is no connection between the increase and the fact that EKN would introduce this stop.

It is also likely that this type of business will continue even without EKN's participation, says Beatrice Arnesson.

Indonesian environmental organization critical of guarantees

When SVT Nyheter in September 2020 asked Sweden's Minister for Foreign Trade Anna Hallberg (S) why the export credits had not been settled faster, she said, among other things, that these were large projects that could not be completed overnight.

"Sweden contributes to environmental degradation in other countries" See the Indonesian environmental organization Walhi and Sweden's Foreign Trade Minister Anna Hallberg (S) comment on the credits for coal mining in the clip from September 2020.

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"Sweden supports companies they are proud of without a thought that it contributes to destroying the environment in other parts of the world," says Eknas Sawung from Indonesia's largest environmental organization Walhi.