Ministry for Foreign Affairs granted additional financing to promote the business opportunities of Finnish SMEs in Northwest Russia

Press release 191/2009
10 July, 2009

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen has today taken the decision to grant an additional 500,000 euros of neighbouring cooperation funds to prepare establishment projects of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Northwest Russia during 2009–2010. The sum of 600,000 euros was granted for the same purpose earlier this year.

The primary purpose of the appropriation is to lower the threshold for Finnish companies to plan and launch business operations in Russia together with a Russian partner. The target of a project receiving funding can be, for example, the founding of a subsidiary or joint venture or cooperation on production with a Russian company. Appropriations are awarded primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Companies can apply for this project support through Finnvera plc, which acts as an expert and coordination organisation for these projects. Applications for support can be filed year round. The project support decisions are made by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Applications are handled jointly with the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Since 2003, nearly 130 projects have received a total of about 3 million euros in support.

In late 2008 and the first half of 2009, demand for project preparation financing has increased clearly among SMEs. Finnish companies are more interested than before in studying business opportunities in Russia.

Additional information Ossi Martikainen, Senior Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, mobile tel. +358 40 5926 769, Counsellor Anneli Puura-Märkälä, Unit for Regional Cooperation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5625