The government of Finland says Russia’s retaliatory sanctions did not seriously affect the Finnish economy. Dairy farmers in Finland feared significant damage to their exports because of the Russian counter-sanctions. However, when emotions died down, it became clear that Russia’s food ban will not have a significant impact on the industry. According to official data, the volume of Russian imports account for only 0.1 percent of Finland’s gross domestic product. Such losses will not reflect on the economy much and would be offset by increased exports to other markets. Moreover, the Bank of Finland and the government Institute for Economic Research said that Russia's actions will in no way increase the unemployment. According to the report, Russia’s import ban will have an impact on individual companies and sectors, but overall consequences for the Finnish economy are seen to be insignificant. However it reads that the dairy farming is expected to be the hardest hit. The government said the economic growth of Finland is more affected by a slowdown in Russia’s growth than by sanctions. So this would lower Finland’s GDP by 0.5% in 2014 and 2015 as well. The country’s economy may see zero growth this year, experts say. Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said that the direct effects of the sanctions are seen to be limited, but in the long term, the indirect results will be significant. He also urged to strive for a balanced budget in drafting the state budget for the next year and hoped it would be possible to avoid extra credits and budget cuts.
