Russia provided explanations to Finland regarding roundwood haulage by the Saimaa Canal

The comment regarding Decree of the Russian Government (which is excluding roundwood haulage stations, specifically the Saimaa Canal, from the list as of November 1, 2021) was given by Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, after a meeting of the Russian and Finnish Committee on Economic Cooperation.

“This is all about details. No changes occurred with roundwood and birch pulpwood supplies used by Finnish pulp and paper mills. The changes will affect softwood with more than 22% moisture content, and this mostly concerns supplies from the eastern regions to South Asian countries, primarily to China,” the Minister noted. According to Dmitry Manturov’s explanation, the decree coming into force from November 1, 2021 will not affect supplies between Russia and Finland in any way.

The Finnish newspaper Etela-Saimaa had previously reported that timber shipping from the Russian Federation by the Saimaa Canal will stop in early November 2021. According to the newspaper, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs received this information from the Russian authorities on Tuesday, October 12.