LEMMINKAINEN IS A CONCERN PAR EXCELLENCE

The neighbors

LEMMINKAINEN IS A CONCERN PAR EXCELLENCE

Finnish firm Lemminkainen occupies one of the leading places in the construction complex of Europe. During its 90 years history this multi-branch concern has been undertaking and successfully realizing contracts not only in its own country, but also far beyond its borders. It is constructing living houses and industrial buildings as well as complicated engineering complexes, such as tunnels, underground collectors, and viaducts. A separate branch of its activities is road works, bitumen and construction materials production.
The firm has left good signs on the Russian land. It has constructed a good number of sites that are successfully operating in different branches of economy of the city of St.Petersburg, of the entire North-West, and of other regions of RussiaЕ

Veikko Oyala, Regional Director for St.Petersburg:
"WE APPRECIATE FRUITFUL COOPERATION"

        Connoisseurs of beer, who will soon have a chance to taste new sorts of beer with the trademark of the St.Petersburg Vena Brewery, may very well address their "thank you" words to Finnish specialists from the Lemminkainen concern. It was them who had constructed the shops for the brewing and bottling productions, which will enable the brewers to effectively broaden the assortment of the "amber" drink.
        New construction at the Vena Brewery is one of the sites where Finnish builders have been working. They have long ago made themselves at home in the city on the Neva river, in the Leningrad region industrial centres, in Karelia, and in other regions of the Russian Federation. And, wherever they are, the scale of their professional interests is diverse. They include cultural and sports centres, banks, hotels and offices. In Moscow alone they have constructed dozens of buildings. The Finns have built new buildings for the Kostomuksha Mines. They have taken a significant part in the setting up of new production capacities at the Svetogorsk Pulp and Paper Mill. The Hermitage, the Astoria hotel and one of the mansions on the English embankment in St.Petersburg are of special significance and of great historical value. Builders and restorers often had to be experts in arts and history in order to preserve the "hand" of brilliant architects, carpenters and joiners of the XVIII-th and XIX-th centuries.
        "Long-term experience in Russian-Finnish cooperation", says Veikko Oyala, "has helped us in the realization of the current contracts. One of them is directly connected with the Ice Hockey World Championship- 2000. I mean the Peterburgsky Sports and Concert Complex, which, along with the Ice Palace, will be the official arena for the review of the world's best hockey players. The changing rooms and the press-centre we have renovated, will, from now on, fully comply with the highest European standards. Our fitters, welders, carpenters and other specialists have demonstrated consummate craftsmanship in modernizing the ice arena and the different engineering constructions.
        By the way, the Lemminkainen office in St.Petersburg is located, literally, a few steps away from the Sports and Concert Complex.
        "But our neighbourship isn't the point," smiles Veikko Oyala. "It's just that here, like on all our construction sites in Russia, we followed our main principle, which is, to qualitatively perform a contract, because we do value cooperation with your city, as well as with the entire Russia, and we seek fruitful partnership."

Olli Lipponen,
Regional Director for St.Petersburg:
"WE WANT TO BUILD A CIRCULAR ROAD"

        In many regions of Russia the Lemminkainen concern specialists in road building and in construction materials production have literally left a good sign. They are given high praise in Moscow, Saratov, Samara and, certainly, in St.Petersburg, where, thanks to their efforts, many roads have acquired new and durable "garments".
        "Road building", says Olli Lipponen, 'is a large part of our firm's activities. For a number of years we have been cooperating with organizations in different regions of the Russian Federation. We have especially close contacts with the North-West of Russia. For example, we took part in the renovation of the Petrovsky stadium in St.Petersburg for the Goodwill Games and in the reconstruction of a number of roads, including the reconstruction of the Vaalemaa-St.Petersburg section of the E-18 international highway.
        In Olli Lipponen's opinion, the experience of the past years may be and must be used on the construction sites of the XXI century. Above all, he means the Circular Highway, which he considers the construction site of the century. His firm is going to take part in the tender for the construction of a very significant stage in the Scandinavia Trans-European autobahn, which is of great interest for Finland.
"We want to build the circular road", says Olli Lipponen.
        The Finnish firm has great expectations in connection with this project. Olli Lipponen is excited about the scale of construction. He says the road will be a six-line high-speed artery with dozens of junctions and bridges over the highway and the railways. It is planned to build 18 small and 13 big bridges, 55 viaducts and 18 piers.

Interview by Frol Andreev