VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Finland is an important trading partner for Russia, with total trade between the two countries worth nearly $12.5 billion in 2009 ($8.5 billion in exports and $3.8 billion in imports) and $22.4 billion in 2008. According to Russian customs statistics, trade between Russia and Finland from January to November 2009 was worth $11.6 billion, meaning that total trade fell by 44.1%, Russian exports by 44.7% (to $8 billion) and imports by 42.7% (to $3.5 billion).
Russian exports to Finland in 2009 can be broken down into the following commodity groups: petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas (71%), chemical products (10%), metals and metal products (10%), wood and pulp-and-paper products (5%).
Russian imports include cars, other vehicles and machinery (about 36%), chemical products (13%), wood and pulp-and-paper products (17%), foodstuffs and agricultural products (10%).
According to data from the end of 2009, cumulative Finnish investment in the Russian economy totalled $3 billion, 63.1% of which was direct investment.
Most Finnish direct investment (96%) was concentrated in the North-Western (70%) and Central (26%) Federal Districts. According to the Bank of Finland, Russian investment in Finland totalled 482 million euros in 2008. There are around 2,000 companies with Russian capital in Finland, the majority of which are involved in intermediary trade and consulting services, tourism, transport and logistics.
Around 20 major investment projects in Russia are being implemented with Finnish partners. Considerable investment is planned for energy projects (the energy company Fortum), infrastructure management (Sponda and Eke Group), and industrial parks and business centres in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region (Technopolis, Eke Group, Lemcon).
The largest Finnish investment project is the 2008 purchase by the Finnish energy company Fortum of a controlling stake (75%) in the Russian power generating company TGK-10 in Western Siberia. Fortum is currently building three new generating units at the Chelyabinsk thermal power station and one at the Tyumen thermal power station, as well as turbines at the Tobolsk thermal power station. These projects will be completed in 2010.
There have also been several instances of large-scale Russian direct investment in Finland. In 1994, Gazprom bought a 25% stake in the gas monopoly Gasum. In 2001, the former representative office of the insurance company Ingosstrakh was transformed into the joint-stock insurance company IngoNord. In 2002, the Russian company RAO Nordik was incorporated as a subsidiary of Inter RAO UES (United Energy Systems) to sell Russian electric power to Northern European countries. In 2006, Finland's largest petroleum products traders - the companies Teboil and Suomen Petrooli - were sold by Nafta Moscow to LUKoil. In 2007, Norilsk Nickel bought the nickel-processing company OMG Nickel Harjavalta from its American owner.
On October 25, 2009, the Third Russian-Finnish Forest Summit was held in St Petersburg, with Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Matti Vanhanen in attendance. The Russian delegation numbered nearly 200 persons and the Finnish delegation more than 100.
On November 5, 2009, the Finnish government issued Nord Stream AG a permit to build the Nord Stream gas pipeline through the country's exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea. The permit is valid for a period of 50 years, after which it can be reapplied for renewal. The decision came into force immediately, irrespective of all possible appeals. The final required permit under Finnish law - a permit from the Western Finland Environment Permit Authority for Nord Stream to perform actual construction work - is expected in early February 2010.
Russia and Finland are also working more closely with regard to transport. The construction of a high-speed passenger rail line between St Petersburg and Helsinki will reduce travel time to 3-3.5 hours (now 5.5 hours). The project has been discussed many times during meetings of the Russian and Finnish presidents and prime ministers. At negotiations on October 25, 2009, in St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin and Matti Vanhanen approved an agreement to launch the high-speed rail line by the end of the year.
