Finland ran a 50-million-euro trade deficit in December, up from 29 million in the year-ago period, the National Board of Customs said in a statement on Tuesday.

Exports fell by about 16 per cent year-on-year to about 3.55 billion euros, with imports declining by about 15 per cent to some 3.60 billion.

STT

Antti Kaikkonen, a Finnish Centre party MP and former chair of the Youth Foundation, received about 42,000 euros from the foundation in 2008, national daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted figures from the Housing Finance and Development Centre (Ara) as indicating.

The sum is more than double that claimed by Mr Kaikkonen himself.

Mr Kaikkonen resigned as chair of the foundation last year after it emerged that the housing charity had funded a number of Centre party politicians' election campaigns, including those of Matti Vanhanen, the prime minister and a former chair of the foundation.

STT

Jyrki Katainen, the Finnish finance minister and Conservative party leader, was quoted as saying by regional daily Turun Sanomat on Tuesday that Matti Vanhanen should step down as prime minister after June's Centre party conference.

Mr Vanhanen announced in December last year he would not stand for re-election as party leader at the Lahti conference but left the question of prime ministership open.

Mr Katainen was quoted as saying that Mr Vanhanen's successor as party leader should take over as prime minister as well.

Finnish mineral processing equipment maker Outotec said in a statement it would launch a round of statutory cooperation procedure talks with the aim of cutting about 170 jobs, of which some 120 in Finland.

Outotec cited restructuring and a drop in order intake as the reasons behind the decision to start the talks.

STT

Finland's Supreme Administrative Court (KHO) on Monday dismissed complaints against local plan amendments in Espoo, lifting an obstacle to the construction of five underground stations in Espoo that are to make up a western extension of Helsinki's existing single-line system.

The stations are to be built in Jousenpuisto, Keilaniemi, Matinkylä, Otaniemi and Tapiola.

Tunnelling in Espoo is scheduled to begin later this year, with plans to open the extension in late 2014.

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Some 58 per cent of the respondents in a poll carried out for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) expect pensions to fall, the public broadcaster quoted the results of the Taloustutkimus poll as saying on Sunday.

YLE added that respondents aged between 25 and 49 held the bleakest views about pensions.

Commissioned by YLE, market research company Taloustutkimus interviewed 726 people and puts the margin of error at three percentage points either way.

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Matti Vanhanen (centre), the Finnish prime minister, pledged Monday that his government would redouble efforts to clean up the Baltic Sea.
Finland is to play host to a Baltic Sea summit on Wednesday.

Mr Vanhanen said in the commitment, one of 140 made by the Baltic Sea region's politicians ahead of the Helsinki summit, that Finland would strive to become an example in the recycling of nutrients.

Finnish shipowner Viking Line said Monday it had cancelled a ferry order with Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros de Sevilla over delays.

Viking Line added in a statement it had cancelled the order in accordance with delivery terms entered into an agreement with the shipbuilder.

Viking Line had expected to take delivery of the vessel last year.

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Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia said in a statement Monday it would slash up to 285 jobs at its factory in Salo in southwestern Finland.

"Nokia is planning to develop the operating mode of its Salo plant to ensure production is focused fully on the high-value smartphone market, especially in Europe," Nokia said.

"Salo is a crucial part of Nokia's global manufacturing network," said in the statement Juha Putkiranta, head of manufacturing and logistics at Nokia.

Finnish container carrier MS Linda lost three containers into the Baltic Sea off Gotland in Swedish waters on Saturday.

Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT), a Swedish news agency, reported that one of the containers contained several tonnes of toxic chemicals.

TT quoted the Swedish Coast Guard as saying that the bottom container in a stack of four had collapsed, tipping the other three into the sea.

According to Finnish shipping company Langh two of the containers lost overboard contained food and non-hazardous chemicals.

The Swedish authorities assumed that the containers had sunk.

STT