Finland swops cheap timber with Nord Stream
The Finnish government will give its consent to the Nord Stream project if Russia promises not to boost export tariffs on round timber, Russian media reports.
Timber trade and the Nord Stream has long been part of the bargaining between the two countries, Newsru.com reports. While Russia since 2005 have promised to boost export tariffs on round timber, Finland has remained highly skeptical to the Nord Stream pipeline, which will run partly through its territorial waters.
Meanwhile, the Finnish paper and pulp industry remain highly dependent of raw material import from Russia and Gazprom and Russian authorities are increasingly nervous about the fate of the Nord Stream pipeline.
According to newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, PM Vladimir Putin in a conference this week confirmed that the tariff boost on timber exports will postponed at least 14 months. Originally, Russia intended to increase the export tariffs to 50 EUR per cubic already from January this year. Before June 2007, the export tariffs were only 4 EUR per cubic.
Meanwhile, Finland has signaled that it might approve the Nord Stream project. An official statement on the issue is expected to come from PM Matti Vanhanen and his people this November.
As reported by BarentsObserver yesterday, Mr Vanhanen urges Russia to cancel the export duty altogheter. He believes that the duty is harmful for the timber processing industry and Russian-Finnish ties.
