Tampere opens the first Finnish city office in Ukraine in Lviv — YLE News
The Finnish city of Tampere is opening a representative office in Lviv on September 17 to help companies in the Pirkanmaa region find partners and enter Ukraine’s reconstruction market. This is the first office of a Finnish city in Ukraine, YLE News reports.
Tampere Deputy Mayor Ilkka Porttikivi said that contacts need to be established already during the war, as finding local partners takes time. Business Tampere will assist companies in finding partners, and meetings with them can be held at an office in central Lviv.
Business Tampere’s head in Ukraine, Minna Tiihinen, noted that a presence in the country is necessary to enter the Ukrainian market. Although Tampere’s sister city is Kyiv, Lviv was chosen as the location for the representative office.
Reconstruction market
According to estimates cited in the report, the scale of Ukraine’s reconstruction exceeds €500 billion. The Confederation of Finnish Industries estimates that reconstruction could in the future provide various Finnish sectors with additional exports worth €1–2 billion annually.
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Pami Aalto, a professor of international politics at Tampere University, believes Finland should develop economic cooperation with Ukraine more actively, as other Nordic countries began doing so earlier. Jyrki Härkki, a special adviser at Business Finland, also stressed the importance of establishing ties before the war ends.
Support for Finnish companies
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio welcomed the opening of the office and said that major cities should pay attention to Ukraine. According to him, about 50 Finnish companies currently operate in Ukraine, including Peikko and Hesburger, which have production facilities there.
Finland has reserved about €200 million through Finnvera for potential losses incurred by Finnish companies on the Ukrainian market. Tavio said export guarantees could reduce risks for businesses operating in Ukraine during the war.
