Thursday’s papers: Cheaper electricity possible, border fence plans, serious flu season ahead | News
According to the Finnish Border Guard, the construction of a fence on critical parts of the eastern border is necessary as Finland’s security situation changes.
Households can get relief on their electricity bills this winter, the country’s biggest rotating day, Helsingin sanomat newspaper (you switch to another service) (HS), writes.
The energy company Vattenfall told HS that changes in the price of gas have affected the electricity price forecast and pushed the estimates down.
“The price of gas has fallen throughout September and the price of electricity has fallen in Germany. In the Nordic countries, however, prices did not fall in September because there was so little rain,” Senior portfolio manager Juho Kinni told the newspaper.
Meteorologists have predicted a rainier and windier autumn and winter this year, which would lead to cheaper hydro and wind power.
However, there is still a lot of uncertainty in the market. Companies avoid the derivatives exchange, which largely depends on future production and acts as a kind of lock on future prices. Therefore, it is difficult to predict with certainty what the electricity price tag will look like in winter, HS states.
Finnish and Russian border fence plans
The Border Guard has given an overview of what the proposed partial border fence between Russia and Finland could look like, reports South Saimaa (you switch to another service), which is located in the border town of Lappeenranta. The published image suggests a barrier fence a few meters high, topped with barbed wire and surveillance cameras.
With the uncertainty of relations between Russia and Finland and the national security situation becoming more and more difficult, the pressure to build a border fence has increased. prime minister Sanna Marin (SDP) said on Monday that in his opinion it is necessary to build fences on critical parts of the eastern border as a way to make border control more efficient.
The Border Guard Service has proposed to fence off 130-260 kilometers of the entire 1300 kilometer long eastern border according to Etelä-Saimaa. Most of the fence would be built on the border with Southeast Finland, where, according to the newspaper, border traffic is busier and the risk of illegal entry is greater.
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Universities raise money
Finnish universities have managed to get private donations of around 70 million euros this year, he says Ilkka-Pohjalainen (you switch to another service).
The University of Helsinki received the most donations, a total of about 11.5 million euros, and Aalto University came in second with 7.4 million euros. According to the newspaper, the University of Jyväskylä collected the third most donations, around 7.2 million euros.
Bad coughing and sneezing season ahead
Private social and health service provider Mehiläinen warns of a possible intense flu season this year, tabloid Evening News (you switch to another service) (IL) to write.
Influenza has hardly spread among the Finnish population in the last three years, which means that people may have weak or non-existent immunity against the disease. This can strengthen the virus and enable it to spread more widely, the chief physician of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) Asko Järvinen told IL.
The flu season typically starts in December and peaks at the turn of the year. According to Järvinen, there is no reason to expect the season to start earlier.
Currently, Covid is still spreading widely in the Finnish population, although most cases are mild, Järvinen said.