Chairman of Finnmark County Council, Runar Sjåstad, believes the financial crisis could hit the northernmost Norwegian region hard, especially if it turns out to be long-lasting. The fisheries are the most vulnerable, he says.

More than 1200 people are in danger of loosing their jobs at the Arkhangelsk Sawmill and Wood Processing Plant. Also the Onega Sawmill might have to fire several hundreds of its employees.

Russian shipping major Sovcomflot considers to acquire hydrocarbon assets on the Russian shelf, company leader Sergey Frank said when meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week.

The Russian government is ready to cash out almost 10 trillion RUB in counter-crisis measures. An economist says the state support is badly and inefficiently distributed and that it will only hamper the modernization of the Russian economy.

As recession looms, the people of Finland increasingly worry about the situation in the labor market. Unemployment is now a bigger concern for the average Finn that climate change, a new poll concludes.

Fingrid, the Finnish transmission system operator, has made agreements with three electricity importers on electricity transmissions from Russia to Finland in 2009. The commercial capacity of the Russian cross-border connections is 1,300 megawatts.

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to abandon all export tariffs on round timber. At least, for a few carefully chosen exporters.

The Russian government has published a list of 295 companies which are to be entitled to state crisis aid. Among them are a number of key enterprises in Northwest Russia.

Russia’s international reserves in the period 12-19 December increased with 15,4 billion USD to 450,8 billion USD, figures form the Russian Central Bank shows

Hundreds of British tourists will not be able to meet Santa in Rovaniemi, Lapland, this winter as tour operator Nortours has filed for bankruptcy. In Manchester, police were called after angry parents protested when a flight to see Santa was cancelled.

Gazprom has invited the French company GdF Suez to become new partner in the Nord Stream project.

The Russian Railways might next year be forced to cut investments with up to 30 percent, the Russian Minister of Economic Development confirms. Meanwhile, the company’s goods turnover plummets.

The Russian Customs Service expects imports the first quarter of 2009 to decline 40 percent year-on-year following the economic crisis.

The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) has studied the level of business activity in different Norwegian regions. Northern Norway ends up on the bottom of the list with the least successful companies and as the least attractive business conditions.

About 100,000 Russians are expected to go to Finland for New Year’s celebrations. Over the next weeks, every second tourist in Finland will be from Russia, Helsingin Sanomat reports.

Russian industrial production in November shrunk by 8,7 percent and is predicted to fall another 19 percent in December. Meanwhile, also imports are dropping quickly and unemployment is on the rise. Russia might be on the verge of a serious economic crisis.

The labour market in Murmansk Oblast seems to react rather slowly to the expected difficulties. This was the conclusion after the last meeting of the recently established Murmansk Oblast government’s crisis commission.

The world’s nickel producer number one Norilsk Nickel has hired Grand Duke Georgy Romanov to lobby its interests in Brussels. The company fears new EU environmental regulations could harm its exports.

The Norwegian government confirms that it is likely to withdraw a multi-million Euro grant to world nickel producer number one Norilsk Nickel, as the company has failed to introduce green technology at its plant in Nikel, near the border to Norway.

The value of the Sydvaranger Mine company in northern Norway has dropped to 1/6 of the value six months ago. However, the value drop and low iron prices do not seem to affect the company’s plans for the reopening of the Arctic mines outside Kirkenes.