Political and Economic Significance of the Saimaa Canal in Russian-Finnish relations

В.Л. Мартынов, О.А. Балабейкина, И.В. Подгорных, И.Е. Сазонова

Abstract

The subject of the study is the Saimaa Canal, the only artificial waterway connecting Russia with a foreign country. The canal presents interest from the hydrotechnical point of view and unique in terms of its legal status. The legal regime of the canal is close to the «straits regime». In 2022, the debate over the further use of the canal intensified, with the Russian side often unduly exaggerating its importance for modern Finland. It is overlooked that the economic importance of the canal for Finland has significantly decreased since its construction in the 1960s. Intra-Finland cargo traffic on the canal is quite meager. Foreign trade transportation was mainly carried out by vessels either under the Russian flag or under «flags of convenience» carrying cargo between Russia and Finland. The results of the study can be applied in the activities of government authorities that determine the main directions of the transport complex in general and inland waterway transport in particular (Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation), as well as regulating economic (Ministry of Economic Development) and political (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) interaction with foreign countries.

Keywords

Saimaa Canal; Russia; Finland; territory lease; straits regime.

DOI: 10.31249/rsm/2024.01.08

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