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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President,

Please allow me to once again warmly welcome you to Russia, to this location, which is exotic, if you will, but nevertheless quite significant. When I say ‘significant,’ I mean that a Finnish company, one of the leaders in the European energy market, is investing very serious resources in the Russian market and this is just one example of these investments.

Russia is doing everything possible to create the necessary conditions for these investments. This certainly benefits both the Finnish and the Russian economy. New jobs are being created and new technologies are being developed in both nations.

We have other areas of cooperation as well, including some very promising, interesting and ambitious ones. I am very glad that you have found the time to visit and participate in today’s ceremony and tomorrow’s event on developing the Arctic.

President of Finland Sauli NIINISTÖ (retranslated): Mr President,

Thank you very much for your kind words. It is a great pleasure for us to be here at this event. We truly are very proud that it is a Finnish company implementing such a significant project.

I feel you described our interdependence very well. The electricity that will be produced here will be used in Finland as well.

This is a very interesting visit for me personally. Tomorrow, we will continue on to Salekhard. I had never been to Siberia before. I am confident that tomorrow, we will find new directions when we discuss ‘Arctic’ issues and prospects for cooperation.

Thank you very much.