Panel discussion at Turku Europe Forum 2021 examines EU-Russia economic relations

Last Friday (Aug. 27), the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT) hosted a panel discussion at the Europe Forum 2021 (video file in Finnish) that dealt with economic relations between the European Union and Russia. Topics included the increased professionality of Russian officials, as well as the chronic issues certain branches face with the operation of Russian customs. Panellists were fairly optimistic about the prospects for Finnish-Russian trade over the near term. From a longer perspective, however, national and supranational efforts to mitigate climate change could threaten Russian export earnings, thereby reducing Russia’s external purchasing power and imports.