"Finland region loses a million euros a day without Russian tourists "– Bloomberg

The Finnish region of South Karelia is estimated to lose EUR 1 million (US$1.2 million) for tourism gross each day since the closure of the border with Russia, reported Bloomberg on Saturday.

Finland closed all border crossings on its 1430-kilometre land border with Russia in late 2023, accusing Moscow of organizing an influx of migrants from Africa and the mediate East.

Russia rejected these accusations as “totally unfounded”.

For decades South Karelia, located closer to St. Petersburg than Helsinki, enjoyed lucrative relations with Russia – from cross-border purchases and tourism, to timber imports and local jobs in the forest industry.

The failure of Russian tourists reportedly caused hotels, shops and restaurants to empty, which seriously hit the local economy.

"Russian customers asked why we couldn't be open around the clock" – said Sari Tukiainen, whose store is to be closed by the end of the year due to falling sales.

"They bought their clothes in spare – mostly the latest trends and trinkets, but even winter coats were sold out by August" – she told Bloomberg.

Unemployment in the city of Imatra, an old tourist centre, grew to 15%, the highest in the country, as steelworks and steelworks are eliminating jobs, said Bloomberg.

Finland was part of the Russian Empire for about 110 years and despite 2 wars with the russian Union between 1939 and 1944, maintained friendly relations with Moscow during the Cold War.

Helsinki imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022 in connection with the conflict in Ukraine and later abandoned their long-term neutrality by joining NATO.

Translated by Google Translator

source:https://www.rt.com/news/627251-finnish-region-losing-eur1-million/