Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a 24-hour visit to Helsinki Thursday afternoon. He will hold talks with his Finnish counterpart, Tarja Halonen, in the evening ahead of Friday’s European Union-Russia summit, YLE24 News reports.
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November 23, 2006Russia threatened to ban all imports of animal products from the European Union, according to reports on Wednesday.
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Documents from the informal EU summit in Lahti, Finland, last month — together with other top-secret papers — were found in a bin outside the Spanish foreign affairs ministry in Madrid last week.
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November 15, 2006Russian customs officials are collecting illegal fees from haulers for crossings, at least at the Svetogorsk Customs Station across the from Imatra. According to transport operators, the fee is EUR 10 to EUR 80 per crossing. The highest charges are collected from car-transporter trucks, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reports.
Reportedly the charges apply to all haulers, including the Russians’ own goods vehicles. If the driver refuses to pay, he or she could have to wait for dozens of hours in a queue. On the other hand, the payment of the requested fee guarantees a fast and appropriate handling of the cargo at the Russian customs.
The trucking companies assume that the majority of vehicles have been forced to pay illegal fees. Moreover, the Finnish authorities are aware of the fees, and the Finnish Customs has discussed the issue with the Vyborg Customs officials and has even sent a letter to the Russian Customs Administration in Moscow.
However, the Russian Customs has denied the existence of illegal fees, and the complaint has only resulted in an increase in such charges.
No huge amounts of money are demanded per crossing, the Finnish haulage companies report. The fees are between EUR 10 and 80 per crossing, depending on the company and on the cargo. The highest charges are collected from the eastbound car-transporter trucks, which are seldom Finnish.
However, some Russian drivers claim that they do not pay any bribes to customs officials. “We do not handle money at the Customs. If somebody pays them, it is the office of the companyâ€, the drivers argue.
Even though the charges per crossing are not large, the accrued costs for a trucking company with regular eastbound shipments could amount to tens of thousands of euros per year.
When asked about the justification for such fees, Russian border officials have reportedly said that it is a kind of support for the employees’ entertainment purposes. No official grounds have been stated. Moreover, the collection of fees has become more or less automatic, while the sums have been increasing.
This year alone, as many as 85,000 truck-trailer combinations have crossed the eastern border at Svetogorsk. In terms of money, it means as much as several millions of euros in bribes per year. Svetogorsk itself only accounts for around 10 per cent of the 820,000 trucks that crossed the Finnish-Russian border last year. Nine out of ten of these trucks are Russian-registered.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry and the Finnish Customs have both been cautious about interfering with this illegal collection of fees, saying that it could hamper trade relations between Finland and Russia. Moreover, the ministry has suggested that these kinds of phenomena are part of the traditional conduct of the Russian civil servants and are reflected in their salary policy.
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October 24, 2006
Russia does not have the same kind of democracy as in other European countries, Finland’s Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has said. Russia has democratic institutions, but the way that they work is not the same as in other countries of Western Europe, he said.
Vanhanen made his comments in Brussels in a joint interview with three Nordic newspapers: Helsingin Sanomat, the Swedish Dagens Nyheter, and the Danish Politiken.
“They say themselves that they have a democracy of their own kind. I don’t remember the exact definitionsâ€, Vanhanen said when asked if there is a functioning democracy in Russia.
“It is not the same kind of democracy as in other European countries. Russia has democratic institutions, but the way that they work is not the same as we have in Western Europe.â€
Vanhanen was cautious in his assessment of democratic development in Russia.
“Our experiences in the development of democratic models of action and political parties are from 100 years back, and it is not easy to give advice on it. It is important for Russia to adhere to its commitments in the development of democracy.â€
Vanhanen again rejected criticism over the invitation of Russia’s President Putin to a dinner during the unofficial European Union summit in Lahti on Friday.
The visit comes at a sensitive time. In addition to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, Russia has come under increasing criticism from the West over its treatment of neighboring Georgia.
Vanhanen said that thorny issues will also come up in Lahti, even though the main topics to be discussed with Putin are partnership questions and energy.
“If these questions are to be discussed, the only way to do it is to arrange an opportunity for a discussionâ€, he said.
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October 18, 2006
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