Finnish politics (nil) thread

[Ball Comrade]

There's a decent article on the people funding the new right wing government here:

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Ele.../1135236506359

Surprise surprise, they want to build shopping centres and concentrate on 'eastern trade'. Putin loves these fuckers, I'm sure.

This scandal came about after one of the more dickheaded centre party MPs said he wasn't going to declare his campaign contributors, there was no punishment under the campaign finance law, and that he wouldn't have done it if his electorate thought about anything. He's now declared, and yes, he got money from this 'Finnish country development' (businessmen's politics) fund.

[tee rex]

Finnish politics (nil) thread

I was going to mention Finland in the "Countries ... news" thread. In New Zealand, Finland is one of those places that only exist for the purposes of comparisons in domestic political point-scoring. Like Norway, or, if you want to cut taxes, Ireland. Sort of like West Germany used to be for Britain, in the 70's and 80's.

So I have no idea what this thread is about, but I know they do things better in Finland, which is what it's there for.

[Kusal Flyer]

Finnish politics (nil) thread

Bombanero wrote:

Surprise surprise, they want to build shopping centres and concentrate on 'eastern trade'. Putin loves these fuckers, I'm sure.

one of the more dickheaded centre party MPs said he wasn't going to declare his campaign contributors now...he got money from this 'Finnish country development' (businessmen's politics) fund

Are you implying that the Russian govt/ governor of Vladivostok/ Chelsea's Drogba replacement budget is being diverted to suburban Helsinki malls? Actually a shopping centre is one of the few words I know, Itakeskus. Although I guess it means something like 'South central'. Had v. pleasant lunch in a thunderstorm there before the John Fogerty gig.

PS all the peacemakers at Stormont send best wishes to Artti Mataharii.

[Ball Comrade]

Finnish politics (nil) thread

Two separate things. The shopping centres are a fairly new thing, and Ideaparks are built out in the middle of nowhere with few public transport links and a massive car park. The one 'in Tampere' is actually midway between Tampere and Valkeakoski, and everyone drives there. Itäkeskus is in Helsinki ('east centre') and has it's own metro station, indeed it is going to be the transport hub for the new developments in Sipoo.

It's fairly new to build these things on the outskirts of major cities in Finland, and it makes the place much shitter and even more suburban.

The wood pulp is a bigger problem. Finnish paper mills currently import a lot of wood from Russia, but the Russians are going to increase the tariffs to make this unprofitable. They are linking the issue to WTO membership, and haven't budged an inch in the couple of years since the negotiations began. Most people assume they want a Finnish 'partner' to build mills in Russia, providing employment and enrichment for the right people, but deciding which 'partner' is a difficult decision for them. UPM already have some facilities there and are the favourite, so the governor who had a 'car crash' after opening negotiations with Ruukki should maybe have thought a bit more carefully. So the people who are funding the politicians might want some assistance, who knows? They *should* be negotiating a reduction in tariffs, but it might be that they stray into other areas.

But this is the first I've heard of that Vilppula guy, he sounds like a proper cunt.