The Russian trade representative said that the Finnish authorities underestimated the impact of sanctions

The Finnish authorities underestimated the impact of sanctions on the national economy, in 2023 the trade turnover between Finland and Russia may be reduced to 4.5 billion euros. Such a statement did in an interview with RIA Novosti, Russian Trade Representative in Finland Anton Loginov.

He recalled the EU sanctions that relate to the supply of chemical products and petroleum products. According to him, the restrictions imposed will result in a decrease in trade in 2023 to 4.5 billion euros. Loginov added that Russia still supplies nickel, fertilizers, animal feed and pharmaceutical products to the country.

“One gets the impression that our neighbors are still paying insufficient attention to assessing the consequences of their decisions for the national economy. I believe that 2023 will be indicative in this regard, ”said the trade representative.

According to him, the demand for the resumption of trade with the Russian Federation “remains for many sectors and regions of Finland.” At the same time, Loginov noted, earlier the Finnish authorities have repeatedly announced their intention to impose even tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation and completely stop bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

According to data Rosstat, in 2021, the foreign trade turnover of Russia and Finland amounted to $13.2 billion (12.41 billion euros at the current exchange rate).

Against the backdrop of the start of a special operation in Ukraine, the EU, the USA, Canada, Great Britain and a number of other countries imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia, which affected many sectors of the economy, including energy, the high-tech sector, aviation, the banking industry, the mining industry, the automotive industry, etc.

In particular, in June the EU banned the export of chemical products to Russia. Finnish customs notedthat the adopted restrictions will affect about 70 Finnish companies. The department added that on an annualized basis, export revenues will be reduced by 20 million euros or more.