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Cars and lorries with Russian number plates abound in Kotka, in the eastern part of Finland’s south coast. Many stores now have signs in Russian to attract increasing numbers of cross-border shoppers, as well as a growing population of Russian immigrants.
On the front yard of a building, a mother - or perhaps a nanny - comforts a crying child in Russian.
Russians are becoming more accepted by local residents. It is said that the "Russophobia border", which used to run between Lappeenranta and Kouvola, has moved west to somewhere between Kouvola and Lahti.
Russian has also taken over the number-two spot in languages spoken in the area. There are fewer than 600 people in Kotka who are native speakers of Swedish - Finland's second official language, while the number of Russian speakers already exceeds 800.
The days in which stores might have signs saying "only one/two Russians at a time" are a fading, and very embarrassing memory. Russians who come to the city on shopping trips bring EUR 50 million a year to stores in Lappeenranta alone.
In Kotka and Hamina foreignersnow account for 2.4 percent of the population, and most of the immigrants are Russians. The region, whose net migration figures were in the negative, has received a boost from outside the country. Thanks to the immigrants, more people are now moving into the area than are leaving.
Kotka, Hamina, and Lappeenranta want much more Russians - as residents, employees, entrepreneurs, and customers. The City of Kotka will soon lose 1,000 municipal employees to retirement.
Working to meet the immigration target is Alexei Kantanen, who moved to Finland himself 14 years ago. Kantanen, who trains Russians in the region to set up their own businesses, lives in Koria with his wife Irina Gediken, a kindergarten teacher, and their two daughters Julia, 16, and Katarina, 6.
in the past two years immigrants have set up companies involved in shipping, transport, and the caring professions. There is also a Russian-language day care centre, a Russian restaurant, a consultation firm, a hair salon, an engineering office, two cafes, and a bookkeeping company all run by local Russians.
"You can be understood when you know the Finnish language",Kantanen tells 17 members of an immigrants’ course, all but two of whom are Russians.
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