On December 12, 2018, in Moscow, in the territory of the agro cluster “FOOD CITY”, within the framework of the permanent exhibition exposition “INTERPROD EXPO” (“INTERPROD EXPO”), the grand opening of the Finland Pavilion took place.

The opening of the pavilion is the first joint project of the Eurasian Business Union and the Moscow Export Center autonomous non-profit organization, implemented in accordance with the Cooperation Agreement for the development of the export activities of enterprises.

Approximately 200 people attended the event. The delegation of the Finland was headed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Finland to the Russian Federation Mikko Hautall. The official part of the delegation also included: Secretary for the economic and trade policy of the embassy – Katarina Tirko, head of the economic relations department of the embassy – Junas Heiskan, director of the Finnish Small Business Support Fund “ProAgria” – Ari Toivonen, head of export of the Small Business Support Fund of Finland “ProAgria” – Tuula Repo, expert in fish products – Snig Pentti, representative of the University of Applied Sciences of Lahti – Anna Saarela. The Baltrading company represented by its director, Anna Shlyanina, became the regional operator representing Finnish manufacturers at the pavilion.

The following companies took part in the event: Panda (confectionery, licorice and chocolate candies), SunSpelt (healthy food, spelled breakfasts, dry breakfasts and cereals), FinnSweet (confectionery, winegums), FinnSnack (rye Finnish crackers, tartlets).

An excursion on the territory of the permanent exhibition “INTERPROD EXPO” and the agro cluster “FOOD CITY” was conducted for guests from Finland. During the business program of the grand opening of the pavilion “Finland”, a round table of manufacturers “Russia-Finland” was held. Participants discussed measures to support Moscow’s exports, opportunities for the development of Russian companies on the foreign market, the situation regarding the development of foreign companies ’offers on the Russian market, the search for participants in foreign economic activity, and also got acquainted with the platform of knowledge and services for entrepreneurs of «Business Environment”.

Among the speakers were: Member of the Board of the Eurasian Business Union – Vitaly Rebrikov, General Director of INTERPROD EXPO – Sergey Shubin, Deputy General Director of Moscow Export Center – Alexey Kolomeychuk, Top Franchise Development Expert of Top Francs – Stolbova Anastasia, Nosov Igor – Head of Special Educational Projects of “Business Environment”, Project Manager of Sberbank – Andrey Matviyets, Director of Baltrading Company- Shlyanina Anna, and the head of the Small Business Support Fund inљ Finland “ProAgria” Tuula Repo.

The business program of the opening ceremony ended with the agreement execution between the companies INTERPROD EXPO LLC, Baltrading Limited Company and the ProAgria company.

After this, the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon at the pavilion “Finland” took place and the meeting with Chyskhaan – Santa Claus from Yakutia and Joulupukki – Santa Claus of Finland. As part of the cultural and entertainment part of the event program, the Unomomento Ensemble of Finnish accordionists performed. Also a musical gift to guests and participants of the event was presented by a group of pupils from Finland, performing several Finnish songs and organizing a costume performance based on Finnish fairy tales.

The opening of the pavilion ended with a standing buffet where guests could taste traditional Finnish cuisine and draw of a trip voucher to Finland.