Finnish firm doubles aluminium exports to Russia amid concerns
The value of Finnish aluminium exports to Russia has doubled this year compared to 2023. A family business from Turku, a global producer of studs for winter tyres, is responsible for the increase. The studs are not subject to sanctions. There is a risk that they are used for military purposes at the front. The co-owner of the company is the wife of the education minister, reports the Finnish broadcaster Yle.
In the first three quarters of this year, the value of aluminium exports to Russia exceeded £19 million. In the same period of 2023, it amounted to just over £9 million, according to Finnish customs data. Aluminium products are exported across the eastern border directly by ship or through the Baltic countries.
A significant share in the aluminium exports, as well as in the entire volume of exports to Russia, is held by winter tyre studs. In Finland, there are three companies engaged in their production. However, only products from one of them, Turvanasta, are exported to Russia, highlighted Yle in the report. The plant from Turku, established in the late 1980s, producing an average of one billion studs annually, is a world leader in this industry.
The Finnish public broadcaster also points out that one of the co-owners of the company is Ia Adlercreutz, a relative of the company's director and the wife of Anders Adlercreutz, the Minister of Education and leader of the Swedish People's Party (RKP-SFP).
Aluminium studs are not subject to international sanctions imposed on Russia. If the goods are not on the list and there are no barriers to export, it depends solely on the company's decision whether to maintain trade with the east, according to the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a comment, emphasising that there is a risk that studs used in many vehicles could also enter the arms industry and be used for military purposes at the front.
The company does not know where the studs end up
The company, when fulfilling an order, has no information on the final destination of the studs, states Mikko Salakari, director of Turvanasta. According to him, closing the plant would be a greater problem "from a moral standpoint" because it would involve lower revenues, taxes, and job losses. Russians would still have studded tyres from China if their production was halted in Europe, he concluded.
According to customs office statistics, at the end of 2021, over 900 companies were involved in exports across the eastern border. After Russia's attack on Ukraine, the number of entities systematically decreased, and currently, fewer than 50 companies declare exports. The situation is similar regarding imports of goods from Russia. Currently, a dozen or so companies are engaged in this, while three years ago, there were nearly 500.
