Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held a meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinisto, on the sidelines of the International Arctic Forum in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held a meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinisto, on the sidelines of the International Arctic Forum in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg.
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and Finland established diplomatic relations on December 31, 1920. On July 23, 1923, Finland established relations with the Soviet Union through an exchange of diplomatic missions, which were transformed into embassies in 1954.
On December 30, 1991, Finland recognized Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union. In January 1992, the sides signed a treaty on the basic principles of bilateral relations. Currently, Russia and Finland are bound by around 90 inter-state and inter-governmental agreements, which regulate almost all areas of bilateral relations.
Over the past decade, the countries have established a steady tradition of active political dialogue at the top level. Presidents usually meet twice a year.
In 2018, Putin and Niinisto held talks on July 16 in Helsinki in conjunction with the Russia-US summit that was held in the Finnish capital that day and on August 22 in the Russian city of Sochi.
If necessary, the presidents discuss pressing issues by telephone. The last regular phone conversation between them was held on December 28, 2018.
The prime ministers of the two countries also maintain contacts. On September 26, 2018, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Finnish counterpart, Juha Sipila, held talks in Helsinki.
Foreign ministers of both countries maintain regular contacts as well. On May 4, 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a working visit to Finland, where he held talks with Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini. Lavrov was received by Niinisto as well.
The foreign ministers of the two countries also met in the Russian northern city of Arkhangelsk on October 19 and in Vienna on December 7, 2017, on the sidelines of a ministerial session of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Ministerial Council, respectively.
On February 12, 2019, Soini came to Moscow on a working visit.
Inter-parliamentary contacts are also frequent. Ministries and agencies of the two countries interact on a regular basis. Finnish ministers of the interior, agriculture and forestry, transport and communications, and justice have visited Russia in recent months, while the Russian minister of natural resources and environment traveled to Finland.
The leadership of the military departments of the two countries is also engaged in dialogue. A regular round of consultations between the deputy defense ministers of Russia and Finland was held in Moscow in December 2018.
Russia and Finland are constructive partners within the United Nations and other international platforms, as well as within the regional framework in the north of Europe and the Arctic, including the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Arctic Council and the Northern Dimension.
The Russian-Finnish relationship has always rested on trade and economic cooperation.
The trend of a decrease in bilateral trade, observed in 2014-2016, was overcome in 2017. At the end of the year, Russian-Finnish trade amounted to $12.3 billion, showing an increase of 37 percent compared to 2016. Positive dynamics continued in 2018 as the trade turnover amounted to $14.75 billion, including $11.37 billion in Russia's exports and $3.38 billion in Russia's imports.
Russia mostly exports to Finland mineral products, metals and products made of them and chemical products. Russia's imports from Finland comprise machinery, equipment and transportation vehicles, chemical products, as well as wood and pulp and paper products.
Investment cooperation between the countries is steadily developing. According to the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Finland's total direct investment in the Russian economy is almost $4.5 billion. Russian companies have invested about $3.5 billion in the Finnish economy.
Finnish electricity and heat producer Fortum is a major investor and partner of Russian companies. Fortum owns energy facilities in the Russian regions of Chelyabinsk and Tyumen and in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area. In addition, in cooperation with the Russian state nanotechnology company Rusnano, the concern is participating in the construction of wind power plants in the Russian regions of Murmansk, Rostov and Ulyanovsk, Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol region, the republic of Tatarstan, and solar power plants in the Orenburg region and in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
A total of 650 Finnish companies are working in Russia. About 7,000 Finnish companies are directly or indirectly involved in trade with Russia.
Russia's largest project in Finland is the construction of the Hanhikivi-1 Nuclear Power Plant by Finnish Fennovoima nuclear power company and Russian Rosatom nuclear corporation. Rosatom's subsidiary RAOS Voima owns a 34-percent share stake in Fennovoima. The first stage of preparations for the construction of the Hanhikivi plant was completed on October 15, 2015. The plant will start producing electricity in 2024.
In April 2018, the Finnish government approved the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, 232 miles of which will pass through Finland's economic zone.
Finland continues to fund cross-border cooperation programs aimed at developing and integrating border regions with Russia (Murmansk and Leningrad regions, Republic of Karelia). The total amount of funding for cross-border cooperation programs with Russia in 2014-2020 amounts to $200.5 million. That amount includes funding from Finland and the European Union.
The Russian-Finnish Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation (ICEC) plays a major part in coordinating practical bilateral interaction. The ICEC held its regular session in St. Petersburg in October 2018.
Bilateral cooperation in the field of environmental protection is actively developing. Finland provides assistance in the implementation of a number of large environmental projects in Russia, in particular, in the construction of waste water treatment plants in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions.
Russia and Finland maintain proactive cultural-humanitarian cooperation and also hold the annual Russian-Finnish cultural forum. Mutual contacts are further expanding between Finno-Ugric ethnic groups living in both countries.
Russia and Finland boast large-scale tourist ties. In 2018, about 9 million people crossed the Russian-Finnish border.
Both countries cooperate under the 1992 agreement to perpetuate the memory of Soviet soldiers in Finland and Finnish soldiers in Russia who were killed in hostilities during World War II. A number of memorials dedicated to the memory of soldiers killed in 1939-1944 were opened in both countries. There are about 90 Russian military cemeteries in Finland.
