SAINT PETERSBURG, December 5. / TASS /. About 50% of Finnish enterprises operating in Russia expect business growth in the near term.

“Economic issues are of concern to many. They are influenced by factors, including the pandemic, as well as changes in raw material prices. According to the data provided by the Finnish-Russian Trade Barometer, which twice a year makes up the Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,” about half of Finnish enterprises are waiting for growth growth ” [бизнеса в России]”.

Vanamo noted that a “good economic base” has been formed between Finland, St. Petersburg and the North-West of the Russian Federation. “Russia is an important trade partner of Finland, in terms of the total volume of the entire trade turnover, it ranks third,” she recalled. “As for the current year, there is a positive trend in the growth of exports and imports. They have grown in comparison with last year (for the same period – TASS comment) by about 20%, ”the Consul General said. She stressed that “in the current situation, this is a very good result”, “we hope that this development continues.”

Speaking about Finnish capital investment in Northwest Russia, Vanamo noted that the pandemic has affected the willingness of companies to invest. “We heard from companies that they had to postpone investments,” she said. At the same time, according to her, Finnish companies have purposefully invested in neighboring regions for many years. “Recent investments, [осуществили] These are the companies that have been here for a long time and who just want to make their activities more efficient. One example is from the Leningrad Region, where the Nokian Tires plant is located: they invested in the construction of a warehouse, and a lot of automated technologies were used there, ”added the Consul General. in the construction of business centers and hotels in St. Petersburg.

This week the city hosted the Finnish Business 2021 forum, this year it brought together 55 Finnish and almost 100 Russian companies on one site. The main theme of sustainable development was organized by the Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce. The vice-governor of the city Maxim Sokolov at the forum that after the reduction in the trade turnover between St. Petersburg and Finland in 2020, there is a tendency for its recovery. According to the data presented, in the first half of 2021, it grew by 26% compared to the same period last year.