Where were we 25 years ago when this all started? The world, and especially Europe, was experiencing a massive political and economic upheaval as the Soviet Union broke up and many countries in the socialist bloc were embarking upon a journey towards liberal market economies. Finland was greatly affected by all these events.
Finland’s own economic and financial crisis was deepened by the collapse in demand from the Soviet Union – and later from Russia. As this collapse coincided with the end of our bilateral trading arrangements, some could have linked the two events. But in reality the Soviet Union and later Russia had very limited purchasing power in 1991 and 1992.