Supply & Value Optimizer

Meeting consumer expectations and relocating production capacities across different geographical locations leads to adjustment costs and reorganization of supply chains. Currently, Finland does not respond fast enough to economic changes. Identifying future locations of development for new industries and supporting the flow of goods with flexible transport infrastructures will accelerate industrial transitions for Finland. By providing a new set of connections to global supply chains the Arctic Railway will support the needs of Finland to have a better integration into new value chains. The project will be a significant tool to optimize supply chain strategy and synchronize transport routes. Finnish companies will have more options to develop priority industries presented by Team Finland. The connection of the Arctic Railway with three important transshipment markets will contribute to alleviating the economic effect of declining industries. Providing all regions with an access to international supply and value networks will homogenize the structure of the economy by removing the disparities between north-east and south-west Finland. The Arctic Railway will also improve the supply chain of energy between Russia and Finland. Russia is an important importing country to Finland with the transportation of crude petroleum, refined petroleum products and natural gas. In October 2015 Finland handed the chairmanship of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council over to Russia. Based on the Joint Barents Transport Plan (JBTP) the Russian chairmanship focused on the development of transport systems within the Barents region. Domestic road transport corridors, east-west air routes and ferry connections need to be coordinated between Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden in order to form a comprehensive regional network serving all communities. As a result, the interactions between the Barents Sea region, the Gulf of Bothnia, the Northern Sea Route and the Northern East-West Freight corridor will increase. The integration of the Arctic Railway into the JBTP and the JBTP into the NDPTL and the TEN-T will harmonize the Barents regional logistics networks with European and international transport routes. Moreover, by connecting northern, central and southern transshipment markets together, the JBTP will make the Barents supply chain network a strategic element of the global transport system. The railway will be connected to new cross-border check points between Finland and Russia. The emergence of a transnational railway network between the two countries will allow Finland to deploy its expertise in clean technologies, bio-economy and Arctic competencies in the energy sector in Russia.