Skip to: Content Skip to: Site Navigation Skip to: Search  The
View Eastward Is One of Decline  By William EchiksonStaff writer
of The Christian Science Monitor / March 16, 1989   PERESTROIKA
means problems for the unique Finnish-Soviet commercial
relationship. Alone among Western countries, Finland conducts
its Soviet trade under a bilateral barter agreement. No money is
exchanged. Goods are exchanged and cleared through the central
banks in a ``clearing account.'' Every five years, the two sides
get together and sign a five year ``frame agreement.''  Skip to
next paragraph  The system, established after World War II, has
served the Finns well, permitting them to win an outsized share
of the Soviet market.  Even after the recent downturn in
Finnish-Soviet trade, Finland, with less than 5 million people,
remains the Soviet Union's second largest Western commercial
partner, larger than the United States, Japan, or France, behind
only the much more populous West Germany.  ``That's unnatural,''
concedes Keijo Ko