Financial responsibility

Luke is a responsible economic operator and a sought-after partner, delivering value and solutions to its customers and society through research, both locally and globally. Luke’s financial activities are governed by the State Budget Act and the State Budget Decree and the regulations and guidelines based on them.

Luke’s total budget in 2022 was EUR 147 million. Reductions in government funding for Luke mean that we will need to adjust our finances in 2023 and 2024. The main tools to achieve this are to increase the share of external funding and to reduce costs. In this respect, one of the biggest successes in 2022 was the 13% increase in external funding.

We support local regions in achieving Finland’s carbon neutrality targets and in developing bioeconomy and circular economy solutions by providing our expertise. Regional funding helps to transfer our know-how to the regions’ business community, develop local solutions and modernise primary production. The aim is to support sustainable growth in the regions and to reduce disparities in development and prosperity between regions.

The total funding allocated to the regional projects implemented by Luke in 2022 was approximately EUR 10.8 million. The main funders were the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Southwest Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Lapland and North Savo. The main sources of regional funding are the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Regional development activities are slowed down by the change of programming period, as projects started in the previous programming period are phased out and the implementation of projects in the new programming period has not yet started.

Every year Luke participates in numerous international projects, both as a coordinator and as a partner. In 2022, we were very successful in securing EU funding, which increased the volume of international funding and the number of internationally coordinated projects.

In 2022, a total of 70 Horizon proposals were submitted of which 19 were approved for funding, including four coordinated by Luke. The projects received a total of around EUR 12 million of funding. Based on these results, the success rate is 31%. A total of 12 EU projects coordinated by Luke were ongoing at the end of 2022.

In line with Luke’s strategy, we aim to deliver value and solutions to our customers through research.

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures our customers’ willingness to recommend Luke’s services to others based on the work we have done for them.  Customer satisfaction remains high in 2022 (target: NPS > 50).