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A Finnish company does business with Russia and makes significant profits – Russia today Posting in CHAT: Russia Article by Finnish State Television and Radio: The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been going on for three years. At the same time, rail transportation of Russian nickel and fertilizers to Finland continues. The closure of passenger traffic on the eastern border since November last year has not stopped transportation. This was not prevented by the ongoing political strike. The SAK union strike, which will last until the end of March, has led to the closure of Finnish ports and rail freight traffic. However, this did not stop the transport of nickel. Ile found out who runs the transport business. If something is not prohibited, it is allowed. Finland adheres to the general EU sanctions policy. Currently, Russian nickel and fertilizers are not subject to sanctions. Finland is the only channel for the supply of Russian nickel to the European Union. 97.5% of nickel imported into the EU from Russia passes through Finland. In 2023, 84% of all Russian imports into Finland were nickel, and in 2022 the value of Russian nickel ore imports was even higher at €1.740 million. Last year, 24% of the nickel used in the EU continued to come from Russia. Both raw materials are critical. The EU and Western countries consider them essential for global food production and industry, especially for the transition to a green economy. Why can't the EU get rid of Russian nickel? “The alternative would be even greater dependence on Indonesian and Chinese nickel produced using fossil energy,” the expert says. According to him, China is quite aggressive in the nickel market, and Canadian nickel mainly goes to the needs of American industry. Imports are carried out on the basis of a state agreement on railway transport between Finland and Russia. Nickel is transported to the Norilsk Nickel Haryavalta plant. This plant is the only Russian nickel plant in the EU and is part of the giant Russian mining and metallurgical group Norilsk Nickel. The owner of Norilsk Nickel, Potanin, is on the sanctions lists of the US, UK and Canada, but not the EU. Copper ore obtained from nickel processing is exported from Harjavalta back to Russia for further processing as part of the intra-group operations of the Norilsk Nickel group. Fertilizers are delivered from Russia to the port of Kotka. According to Yle, the Russian port operator Fertilog oy is responsible for loading at the port. The company did not respond to messages from Yle. Nurminen Logistics: It's about patriotic work The transport of nickel and fertilizers from the Vainikkala border station is carried out by North Rail oy, a subsidiary of Nurminen Logistics oyj. Nurminen Logistics is a group of companies providing long-distance transport and logistics services. The company is engaged in rail freight transport in Finland and abroad. The company's owners include Finland's largest pension company. Nurminen Logistics makes significant profits from transporting Russian raw materials to Finland. Nurminen Logistics shares became the best-performing stock on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 2023. In the winter of 2023, a subsidiary company, North Rail, was created to service freight transport from Russia to Finland. The company claims to be Finland's largest private railway company. Previously, transportation was carried out by the company VR, which stopped cargo transportation after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. For some time, the Estonian state company Operail Finland oy was engaged in transportation. Transport services continued even during the SAK union strike, which brought rail services to a standstill. In a Yle post, Nurminen Logistics explains the importance of transport during a strike. The company writes that “some transport operations were ordered by the Finnish authorities for protective purposes.” The company says it is involved in "this patriotic work." Protection means necessary work other than a strike to protect life, limb or property which may be particularly endangered during a strike. Üle asked Nurminen Logistics to clarify which authorities were being referred to. The company did not respond. The situation is very strange. Traficom, which is responsible for issuing major rail licences, the Center for Security of Supply, the Ministry of Economy and Employment, the Foreign Office sanctions team, the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Prime Minister's Office were unable to provide any information on the order. None of these bodies made decisions about transportation during the strike, Ihle said. The CEO of the parent company has ties to Russia. North Rail's largest shareholder is parent company Nurminen Logistics with a 79.8% stake. Investors own the remaining 20.2%. One of the investors, Olli Pohjanvirta, has worked with large companies in Russia for a long time. Pohjanvirta is a member of the board of directors of the investment bank Norte Capital oy. According to the company, its main defendants are Finnish citizens of Russian origin. The company states that its place of business is Helsinki. Yle asked the largest owners of Nurminen Logistics how they justify their participation in the transportation of Russian nickel and fertilizers. Nurminen Logistics' largest shareholder is Suka Invest oy (16.17 percent), whose spokesman said: “We continue to believe that the company operates in an ethically and environmentally responsible manner and, moreover, that it is financially profitable. Finland's largest pension insurance company Ilmarinen is the second largest owner of the company with a stake of 14.92%. Ilmarinen Deputy CEO Mikko Mursula, who is responsible for the company's investments, responded to Yle: "Through active participation we can influence our investments." We can highlight the resilience that drives business growth or the risk factors that hinder it. According to Mursula, it is important for Ilmarinen that the companies they own comply with the sanctions. “We do not agree that business with Russia should be done in order to avoid sanctions,” Mursula writes in his message. No political will Finland is also a channel for Russian fertilizers through the port of Kotka. In 2023, fertilizers worth €5.5 million were imported from Russia to Finland. According to customs data, the amount has decreased since 2022, when it was 93.3 million euros. Finland is still a small factor compared to the Baltic countries. In 2023, about eight million euros of Russian fertilizers passed through Estonia, 11 million euros from Latvia, and 40 million euros from Lithuania. Volumes in the Baltics also decreased significantly compared to 2022. The figures come from information requested by Yle from Eurostat. More and more fertilizers are exported via Finland, mainly to Africa and South America. cookhttps://yle.fihttps://aftershock.news Source link Source link