City Helsinki Financial News

Finland is looking to attract 15,000 international students a year by 2030 and increase the level of work-based migration to 30,000 per year. «The Finnish society is ageing; therefore, the country needs more young people to join the labour market,» Glenn Gassen, Director of Immigration Affairs, Helsinki, told TOI in an interview. «We see India as one of our focus countries and want to intensify our partnership,» he added. «India has a growing young population, and a lot of untapped talent and Finland has had excellent experiences with Indian students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and professionals. There is an active Indian business community across Finland, and we have seen that Indian newcomers integrate quickly and emerge very successful.» «There are open positions across many sectors, for example, the healthcare and elderly care is on a lookout for workers. Similarly, several manufacturing industries is hoping to get international skilled labour,» Gassen said. Finland attracts top talent from around the world to its knowledge-intensive industries- mostly from the US and the UK.

US President Joe Biden has cracked a joke after media reports suggested that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin could be in danger for carrying out an attempted mutiny last month against Russian President Vladimir Putin and briefly capturing Moscow's military facility. In a press conference in Helsinki, Biden said, "If I were he I’d be careful what I ate...I would keep an eye on my menu". The joke was a reference to high-profile instances of Russian security services using nerve agents and polonium to poison and kill political enemies of President Vladimir Putin.

By Steve Holland and Essi Lehto

This 50-acre plot in Oradea, Romania, close to the border with Hungary, beat out scores of other sites in Europe to become the home of Nokian Tyres’ new 650 million-euro ($706 million) factory. Like an industrial-minded Goldilocks, the Finnish tire company had searched for the just-right combination of real estate, transport links, labor supply and pro-business environment. Yet the make-or-break feature that every host country had to have would not have even appeared on the radar a few years ago: membership in both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Joe Biden has scheduled a diplomatic trip to Europe this month with stops in the United Kingdom, at the NATO summit in Lithuania and for meetings in Finland, the White House said Sunday. Biden is set to depart July 9 for «engagements» with the UK's King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the White House said in a statement.

Reliance Jio Infocomm is in advanced talks with a clutch of bulge-bracket global banks to raise around $1-1.5 billion (₹8,200-12,330 crore) through an offshore syndicated loan. The funds will be used to buy 5G network gear from Sweden's Ericsson as India's biggest telecom operator looks to roll out next-gen mobile broadband services across the country by December 2023. The likes of HSBC, JP Morgan Chase and Citi among others are set to arrange an around 3-5 year loan for Jio, which is likely to be priced above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), a new global rate gauge, two people aware of the matter said.

While the United States holds the biggest share in Bitcoin (BTC) hash rate contribution and ATM network, the city hosting the most number of reachable Bitcoin nodes — the biggest pillar of the Bitcoin system — is Frankfurt, Germany.

Turkey has demands that NATO hopeful Sweden cannot -- and does not -- want to meet, said the Swedish Prime Minister on Sunday. 

Finland's defence minister Antti Kaikkonen on Thursday expressed hope that Turkey would promptly ratify his country’s NATO membership, claiming that Helsinki would consider granting arms export permits to Ankara on a case-by-case basis.

In the corridors of power in Stockholm and Helsinki, the champagne is on ice. 

Tuomas Aslak Juuso is frustrated. 

In the corridors of power in Stockholm and Helsinki, the champagne is on ice. 

Finland says it will ban Russian citizens travelling with tourist visas from entering the Nordic country, effective from Friday.

Finland is going to "significantly" restrict the entry of Russian citizens to its territory by refusing access to those with tourist visas from any European country in the Schengen area.

Finland's under pressure prime minister Sanna Marin has apologised after a photo emerged of topless guests at an official government residence.

A new video emerged on Friday morning of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin at a popular Helsinki bar, enjoying an evening with friends and dancing closely with a man who is not her husband. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is refusing to back growing calls for an EU-wide ban on giving tourist visas to Russians. 

The Finnish government is coming under increasing public and political pressure to close the EU's eastern border with Russia, and put a stop to an apparent sanctions loophole.

The Finnish parliament amended its laws on Tuesday, to strengthen the fences along the country's border with Russia, as the Nordic nation continues the process of joining NATO.

Finland and Sweden are a step closer to joining the NATO military alliance. 

Pride events around Europe on Saturday - big and small - brought a rainbow celebration of LGBTQ rights into focus.