CAPITAL: HELSINKI
MONETARY UNIT: MARKKA
REFINING CAPACITY: 200,000 B/CD
OIL PRODUCTION: 0
OIL RESERVES: 0
GAS RESERVES: 0
Finland wanted to reduce its 74% stake in Fortum Oyj, the country's biggest oil and power company, to 50%.
The government planned to reduce its ownership in various companies to cut debt and interest payments. It stood to gain $2.4 billion from the sales.
Other companies on the list were the nation's largest fertilizer and chemical maker Kemira Oyj, and the two largest metals companies, Outokumpu Oyj and Rautaruukki Oyj.
Russia's Gazprom completed the construction of a backup pipeline for the Russia-Finland gas trunkline. Construction took more than 3 years. The 162-km, 25 million cu m/day pipeline linked St. Petersburg with Imatra, Finland.
Gazsprom did not plan to use the line for exports until arctic fields came on stream. Then it would be part of a major gas line stretching from Urengoi to the Finnish border.
Fortum Corp. let long-term bareboat contracts for two ice-breaking, 106,000 dwt crude carriers. Sumitomo Heavy Industries was due to complete the construction of the double-hulled vessels in summer 2002.
The tankers were expected to fly the Finnish flag and replace existing carriers. They would be used in the Baltic and North Seas year round.
