OREANDA-NEWS. March 19, 2012. At the working meeting our region was represented by experts of the Ministry of the RK of Youth Affairs, Physical Training, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Economic Development of the RK, as well as the Institute of Economics of Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Science. The Finnish delegation led by Esko Lehto, head of the administration of a frontier town of Lieksa, included Lauri Kahkonen, the town council chairman, experts in the field of tourism, forestry, and the Consul of Petrozavodsk office of the Consulate General of Finland in St.Petersburg Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen.

Currently, simplified border checkpoint of Inari is used for timber exporting. However, if just five years ago the volume of cargo transportations made about 250,000 cubic metres of timber a year, today this amount has decreased five-fold. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Economic Development of Karelia cannot rule out the possibility of closing the border on this site because of its unprofitableness. According to the first deputy chief of the department of external economic, interregional and international relations and trading activities Alexander Pavlov, Karelian participants of foreign trade activities using this border checkpoint have guaranteed that they will work to this May. However, Finnish experts predict growth of volumes of timber cuttings and international trade in frontier territories, including due to Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization.

As representatives of Karelia and Finland consider, to prevent the closing of Inari border checkpoint and give a stimulus to development of cross-border cooperation, it is necessary to grant Inari simplified border checkpoint the international status. Then not only trucks, but also passenger vehicles will be able to cross the border.

"One of the decisions made today is establishing of an international working group to study this issue, – Minister of the RK of Youth Affairs, Physical Training, Sports Alexander Voronov said. – Now we're working on creation of a special economic zone – a recreational tourist zone which we expect to stretch along the border with Finland. Among the rest, it will promote progress on the issue of Inari border checkpoint."

The meeting of the international working group will take place in the town of Lieksa this July. Besides, representatives of the Karelian party plan to send an application to Moscow for support of the program of development of Muezersky region with the indication of the necessity of modernization of Inari border checkpoint as an essential element of development of economic and tourist potential of the republic.