The latest round of EU sanctions on Russia will have very little direct impact on Finland, Minister of European Affairs and Foreign Trade Lenita Toivakka.
Tough new EU sanctions took effect against Russia on Friday in a coordinated action with the United States. They triggered a furious response from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who accused the West of trying to derail the peace push in Ukraine.
Toivakka says that the EU adopted the latest round of sanctions because there is no evidence that Moscow is genuinely striving for peace in Ukraine.
She says the sanctions are targeted to impact Russia but to cause as little disruption in Europe. The minister, who took office this summer, points out that the measures mostly target Russian state-owned companies.
Gas and nuclear utilities untouched so far
Sanctions will be applied to energy sector firms such as Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft - but not gas and nuclear companies with projects in Finland. The oil company Gazprom Neft's parent company, Gazprom, has a Finnish gas subsidiary, Gasum. The nuclear company Rosatom, meanwhile is heavily involved in a plan to build a nuclear power plant at Pyhäjoki on Finland’s west coast.
Toivakka declined to speculate on expected Russian counter-measures. These could include a possible ban on using its airspace – which would hurt Finnish flag carrier Finnair badly.
Finance minister sees long-term risk
Minister of Finance Antti Rinne also believes that the new measures will have few direct effects on Finland. However if sanctions drag on for a long time, they will have an indirect impact on this country as Russian firms find it harder to raise financing for investments. He says that there are already signs of this, for instance in the case of expensive machinery that Russian companies have ordered from Finnish partners, but now have trouble paying for.
