For much of the Cold War period, Finland endured an uneasy relationship with the Soviet Union, ultimately throwing off the shackles of Communism but restrained by fear of the Bear from pursuing its inclination to throw its lot wholeheartedly in with the West. Now the boot is emphatically on the other foot, and Finnish companies […]
For much of the Cold War period, Finland endured an uneasy relationship with the Soviet Union, ultimately throwing off the shackles of Communism but restrained by fear of the Bear from pursuing its inclination to throw its lot wholeheartedly in with the West. Now the boot is emphatically on the other foot, and Finnish companies find themselves in a position to pick up some of the pieces in the crumbling republics. Nokia Oy has long had links with the Soviet Union and has now formed a joint venture in Russia to manufacture telephone cables. According to the Wall Street Journal, Nokia’s Nokia Cables & Machinery subsidiary is to hold 51% of a joint venture, Neva Cables Ltd, with the St Petersburg telephone company, which will take about 40% of the output of telephone cables from the venture, with the rest going to other domestic telephone companies or being exported. Nokia will contribute machinery worth $5.5m to the venture while the Russian partner will contribute raw materials. Manufacturing is planned to start in one year’s time, and the venture is aiming for annual sales of $11m in the early years. Nokia already has joint ventures in Russia and Kazakhstan, including 40% of Elkat, a copper wire manufacturer based in Moscow.
