Huge opportunities for Russia-Finland co-operation

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov met Finnish businessmen in Helsinki on Tuesday, November 18.

"Our countries' co-operation potential is real huge. We have not employed even one quarter of it as yet. The two economies are developing on the basis of sustainable and clear laws. Finland has a proper legislation and rules of the game for the business community. Russia, for its part, is doing everything to improve relations /with business/," said Mr Kasyanov.

Bilateral commodity turnover can reach over 7 billion euros by the year's end, which is a record high figure, said the premier. "Private Finnish investment in the Russian economy is also growing. As of today, the country has invested a total of 800 million euros in Russia. Investment in Russia's timber industry alone has gone up 50 million euros over 2003," said Mr Kasyanov.

The Russian and Finnish economies complement each other, particularly in such areas as transport, energy, oil and gas production, said Mr Kasyanov. He reassured that the government would encourage Russian businessmen to invest in oil companies based in Finland.

Moreover, Russia is interested in developing the services sector, which includes financial and insurance services, he added.