Saimaa canal Historian expected Russia to raise out of Saimaa Canal leased from Soviet Union during NATO talks

Saimaa the canal has been on the wallpaper recently because, like all of europe, the historic canal is now living in a special time.

The traffic season on the channel, which partly runs on the Russian side, officially started at the end of March, but so far has not gone to the channel no ship. The channel’s risks are perceived to be too great due to the unpredictability of Russia, which has invaded Ukraine.

On Wednesday in the Russian newspaper Izvestija near the Kremlin the opportunity was already seizedthat the Saimaa canal could be closed if Finland joins NATO.

Historian, docent in Finnish and Russian history Jyrki Paaskoski is not surprised. He could expect that with Finland’s NATO talks, Russia would also raise the Saimaa canal.

Paaskoski has written the history of the Saimaa Canal, which was published in 2002: From Vyborg to the World – History of the Saimaa Canal.

“When you think about the forms of hybrid influence in Russia, there are cyber attacks, airspace violations, various agreements and, of course, the fate of the Saimaa Canal as a whole,” he says.

Paaskoski says that a journalist from Izvestija also contacted him on Tuesday.

“There’s now going to be some more hybrid influence coming from the channel lines,” he says.

What is the Saimaa canal, which has now been lifted into the beak of a stick?

It is a waterway from Eastern Finland to the sea. The Saimaa canal is the only waterway along which even large cargo ships can get from Saimaa to the Gulf of Finland and from there to the world’s seas.

The canal is 43 kilometers long. More than 23 kilometers of it pass in Lappeenranta on the Finnish side and less than 20 kilometers on the Russian side. Of the canal’s eight locks, three are on the Finnish side, the rest behind the border.

Finland has leased the canal area from the Soviet Union and later from Russia under a long lease. This is special worldwide. The same type of rental areas have been Macao, Hong Kong and the Panama Canal, but their agreements are no longer valid.

Over The 160-year-old Saimaa canal was built for economic reasons. From the 16th century onwards, Saimaa longed for a direct waterway connection to Vyborg and the sea, as it would have facilitated the export of tar to the world.

An attempt was made to build a canal. In Lappeenranta you can still find the so-called Pontus trench, which is the king of Sweden Charles IX commissioned in 1607. The excavations did not progress as far as the sea, which was perhaps a good thing. In retrospect, it has been suspected that the river may have emptied the whole of Lake Saimaa.

19th century In the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, which belonged to Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of ​​a canal came up again – now to facilitate the export of sawn timber. For example JV Snellman published articles in its Saima magazine on how the channel would improve the economic conditions in Eastern Finland.

Construction of the canal began in 1844 by the Russian emperor Nicholas I: n era.

“The channel united the interests of the Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Finland. Russia sought to turn Finland’s economy and operations from Sweden to Russia. In Eastern Finland, the canal again opened up opportunities for large-scale use of waterways from Iisalmi and Joensuu to Vyborg Bay, ”says Paaskoski

Saimaa The canal was once a huge financial investment with a larger budget than the then annual budget of the entire Grand Duchy of Finland.

“It was the first modern state-owned construction project in Finland to be budgeted for. It was completed in time and the budget was exceeded. It was an example of the construction of railways, which started right after, ”says Paaskoski.

Finns learned from Sweden to build canals and locks. After an eleven-year contract, the canal was inaugurated in 1856.

The canal was 58 kilometers long and had 28 locks. A lot of cargo traffic and passenger ships immediately started to flow in the canal.

Channel promoted the industrialization and economy of Eastern Finland. The canal also quickly became a tourist attraction. With a view to tourism, the surroundings of the canal were made beautiful. Tourists came especially from St. Petersburg.

However, the canal soon became cramped and worn out in heavy use. Renovations had to be made.

In the 1920s, a major overhaul of the canal began, talking about another construction of the canal. New canal structures were started, the closures were expanded and the canal was widened and straightened.

About 40 percent of the construction work was done when World War II interrupted the work. Part of the Saimaa canal was left at the foot of the war. The Soviet army blew up some of the brackets.

The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty established a border that left almost half of the canal in the Soviet Union.

Paaskoski immediately after the war, an attempt was made to negotiate the canal with the Soviet Union. However, it was not until the president that progress began Urho Kekkonen time.

According to Paaskoski, Kekkonen had more political than economic motives for the channel. He thought that with the help of the channel, Finland would get even larger areas back or rented out.

In the end, the minimum goal was achieved: in 1963, Finland leased a narrow canal area from the Soviet Union for 50 years.

“It was unique from the point of view of international politics that the Soviet Union wanted to lease the territory it had occupied in the war during the Cold War. And Kekkonen took full advantage of it, ”says Paaskoski.

The part of the canal that remained on the Soviet side was destroyed in the post-war state. Finland rehabilitated the canal and continued the reforms that were interrupted in the 1930s: enlarged the locks, widened and straightened the canal.

Current The 43-kilometer canal was commissioned in 1968.

The economic calculations of profitability made in the 1960s did not materialize until the 1980s. However, the foreign policy value of the canal was so great that it was wanted to maintain, develop and attract freight traffic.

The channel offered Eastern Finland’s industry a third mode of transport in addition to rubber wheels and railways.

“The channel is barking as a much-needed investment. But given the political motives and the willingness and compulsion to cooperate with the Soviet Union, it was good that there were concrete long-term projects. Kostomuksha, Svetogorsk and the Saimaa canals were also a means of making a profit for local companies and good jobs for people, ”says Paaskoski.

“However, the big picture of the Saimaa canal has been difficult to understand throughout Finland. The same situation was in the 19th century. The nobility of the Senate from Western Finland did not understand the channel and would not have wanted to invest in it. ”

Saimaa The commercial importance of the canal increased in the 1980s, when Russian wood began to flow along the canal to Finland and Finnish wood processing products to the world.

“The problem in the 1990s was that Russia developed all kinds of extra charges, which annoyed both the Finnish authorities and industry, as well as foreign shipping companies,” says Paaskoski.

In the early 2000s, the canal lease expired. Finland and Russia have been negotiating a new lease for years. The new 50-year contract was finally signed in 2010. The channel’s base rent is now € 1.2 million per year.

Finland has now decided on a EUR 95 million canal renovation, in which the closures will be extended and the water level raised. However, the tender for the project is still frozen.

The channel has no activity now, but the gaze has turned there.

Paaskoski believes that the industry in Eastern and South-Eastern Finland would survive without the canal. However, he feels that the operation of the channel also has historical value.

“The fact that such a significant exception was made to the Paris Peace Agreement. However, the channel is there and waiting for a better time. ”