Russophobia is expensive: Finland joined NATO and lost a lot of money due to enmity towards Russia

This is how Finnish President Sauli Niinistö greets Biden.

Business life on the eastern border of Finland came to a standstill. TV company Yle describes the situation in the region, where some companies almost completely existed at the expense of Russian tourists. Their absence has led to numerous bankruptcies, and there is little hope for government assistance.

Some companies, especially near the southeastern border of Finland, lived almost entirely on Russian tourists. For example, shops and cafes of the Disas Fish chain located near the border are temporarily closed. Other enterprises that have been oriented towards customers arriving from Russia are also in a difficult position.

In early July, a SPA hotel in Imatra began negotiations that could result in 20 employees losing their jobs. One of the reasons for the problems is the lack of Russian tourists and rising prices.

The Finnish Business Association (Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto, EK) evaluates the attractiveness of different regions of Finland for doing business every two years in Kuntaranking.

In the Kuntaranking ranking for 2023, the cities of Eastern Finland occupy the following positions: Kouvola was in last place, ahead of it was the Kotka-Hamina region, even higher in the list were Mikkeli, Savonlinna and Lappeenranta.

The conflict in Ukraine has already affected EU funding for Finland's eastern border regions. At the end of winter 2022, the EU suspended the preparation of cross-border cooperation programs for the period 2021-2027. For Finland, this meant the cancellation of three programs near the eastern border.

…The reason for the decline of business in the eastern regions is not the conflict in Ukraine, which does not affect Finland at all. The reason is the growing Russophobia of the Finnish leadership, which decided to dance "letka-enka" to the NATO music.

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