Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen to attend the meeting of the Finnish-Russian Intergovernmental Economic Commission

The meeting of the Finnish-Russian Intergovernmental Economic Commission will be arranged in St. Petersburg on Tuesday 30 October 2018. The Chairman of the Finnish delegation will be Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen. The Chairman of the Russian delegation will be Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Kozak.

“As a neighbouring country, Russia is a very important market for us. There are about 900 Finnish businesses operating in Russia and they have made investments of about EUR 12 billion in the country. It is very important to maintain contact, work to enhance cooperation, and solve issues in the different assemblies of the economic commission.”

The task of the Economic Commission is the improve the operating conditions of Finnish companies in Russia and to create connections between companies. There are 15 different sector and region specific working groups operating under the Economic Commission. In the meetings of the Economic Commission, different issues from the working groups and possible problems facing companies are discussed. The previous Commission for Economic Cooperation Meeting was held in 2016. The working groups have continued concrete, technical-level work on issues concerning the logistics sector, customs and the forest industry, among others.

Due to the unlawful annexation of Crimea and the conflict in East Ukraine, the EU is maintaining the economic sanctions it imposed against Russia.

For more information, please contact: Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen, tel. +358 295 350 633 or the Unit for Russia of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Desk Officer Mari Ahmed, tel. +358 50 468 9255.

A press conference will be held after the meeting on 30 October 2018 in St. Petersburg. For possible inquiries, please contact press secretary Anne Laine at the Consulate General of Finland, Saint Petersburg, tel. +7 931 350 5805.

The e-mail addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the following format: [email protected]