Summary: Second Covid vaccine boosters are in the works as Finland adjusts its epidemic plans while schools open with the majority of kids yet to be vaccinated.

Finland has started preparing to roll out possible second Covid booster vaccinations, according to tabloid Ilta-Sanomat.
 The paper reports that Finland has already ordered vaccine doses for use in 2022 and 2023, with adequate supply to give every resident a second booster shot.
 An eventual rollout of third jabs would be similar to the initial vaccine programme, in which people belonging to risk groups would be first in line, according to officials from the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District.
 HUS' Chief Medical Officer  Markku Mäkijärvi  was quoted by  the paper  saying that administering third vaccinations would be warranted for individuals who have weaker immune responses than others.
 When the Covid vaccine first rolled out in Finland, it was health care and social services professionals who were first in line to receive it. Then, gradually, the country's oldest residents as well as people at higher risk of suffering serious complications began getting jabs, the paper recalled.
 Some EU countries, including Germany and France, have already decided to start offering extra Covid booster shots to the elderly and other at-risk groups, starting in September.
 The National Advisory Committee on Vaccines (Krar) is scheduled to meet on 30 August to discuss the booster rollout strategy,  Hanna Nohynek , chief physician at the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) told Ilta-Sanomat.
 The extra booster's rollout schedule will be determined by Krar, THL and the social affairs and health ministry.
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 HS: New Covid strategy coming
 Meanwhile, daily Helsingin Sanomat reports that Prime Minister  Sanna Marin 's (SDP) government is planning a  new coronavirus strategy , but it may not be implemented until October.
 The government is scheduled to discuss how it will combat the epidemic in the future at a meeting on Thursday.
 However, concrete decisions about altering Finland's current 'hybrid' strategy will not be made until next week at the earliest, according to the paper. One reason behind the wait is because the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will not finalise the plans until the government has hammered out the new strategy's basic principles.
 The paper reported that there is a basic, 60-page draft of the strategy already published, but the details still face further scrutiny before Thursday's meeting.
 HS further noted that the government has not set even a preliminary decision about when its new strategy will go into effect. According to HS sources, it will not roll out until next month or even October, after significantly more vaccine doses have been administered.
 On that note, Swedish-language newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet reported on Wednesday that 95 percent of the patients receiving ICU treatment for coronavirus infections in Southwest Finland  have not been vaccinated .
 The paper noted that no one in the region who had received both vaccine doses and then got Covid have ended up needing intensive care.
 Back to school and face-to-face
 Children in the capital region and from other areas across the country are returning to school in 'hopeful spirits,' on Wednesday morning following the summer holidays,  Helsingin Sanomat  reported on Wednesday.
 Coronavirus restrictions will once again be evident in the daily life of pupils this autumn, the paper wrote. The parents of a Helsinki first-grader,  Eliel Laaksonen , have only been able to visit the school's playground area and they have attended parent meetings remotely.
 "I hope that coronavirus is not the first thing that comes to mind when children come to school, but that they come here to meet friends and learn something new,"  Heidi Metsämäki , principal of Lauttasaari primary school in Helsinki, told HS.
 Despite the rising number of cases, students have been able to begin the new school year in classrooms as coronavirus-related health safety measures have been integrated into schools' routines. Metsämäki said that school staff have not been as concerned about starting the academic year as last year, partly due to the protection offered by vaccines.
 Some  10 percent of young people  aged between 12 and 15 years old have now been vaccinated, mostly those belonging to risk groups, however the vaccine is not yet approved for use for those aged under 12.
 Brewery offers €1,000 for old bottles
 Hartwall's Lahti Brewery is looking for the oldest of its once-ubiquitous brown bottles, and are willing to pay a reward for three of the containers that have survived the longest through the years, tabloid  Iltalehti  reported.
 The brewing company is investigating the durability of its bottles by conducting the experiment. Some of the bottles have been reused an average of 33 times over several different decades, Iltalehti writes.
 Hartwall is the only brewery in Finland that still uses 0.33 litre brown glass bottles. Unlike other glass bottles, when recycled, brown bottles are not broken into pieces, but are washed and refilled, according to the paper.
 "The traditional brown glass bottle, designed by  Väinö Paasonen , was introduced in the 1950s and we still have the bottle model in use,"  Hanna Sivenius , Hartwall's Director of Legal and Corporate Responsibility, said in a press release.
 The age of the bottles can be detected by their stamp: the last two digits indicate the year of manufacturing of the product. Brown glass bottle entries can be sent to hyvaaeikannata.fi.

Wednesday's papers: Second boosters coming, Finland changing Covid strategy, schools open and a beer bottle prize


Summary: Lapland's chief infectious diseases doctor says this is the worst case of non-compliance with quarantine regulations he has seen during the pandemic.

Berry picking companies Arctic International and Polarica have moved at least 260 foreign berry pickers from Lapland to eastern Finland even though most of them have been infected by or exposed to the coronavirus, said the Lapland Hospital District.
 In Rovaniemi, up to 70 percent of foreign berry pickers have been infected with Covid-19. On Friday, the city ordered the companies to isolate harvesters who had fallen ill and to place those exposed under quarantine.
 According to  Markku Broas , chief infectious diseases doctor of the Lapland Hospital District, quarantine rules and the Communicable Diseases Act were violated during the transfer to Kainuu and North Karelia.
 According to Broas, he has not encountered such a large-scale non-compliance with quarantine regulations throughout the entire coronavirus pandemic.
 "Health safety is now at stake here. There is a high risk that the disease will continue to spread within the group and beyond," he told Yle on Monday.
 Article continues after photo
 Markku Broas, chief infectious diseases doctor of the Lapland Hospital District (file photo). Mikko Koski / Yle
 He is concerned that sick and exposed berry pickers will continue to work.
 Authorities unaware
 On Friday, berry companies received orders on how to handle the isolation and quarantine of berry pickers infected with and exposed to the virus. The city of Rovaniemi arranged appropriate facilities for the affected berry pickers.
 Under the Communicable Diseases Act, quarantine must be carried out in one's own home or in another place approved or designated by authorities.
 The city of Rovaniemi did not know about the transfer in advance – and nor did North Karelia's joint municipal authority for social and health services (Siun sote).
 "On a general level, I would say that quarantine regulations are the same everywhere and that criminal complaints can be filed if they are violated," said the region's chief infectious disease doctor,  Jennifer Sieberns .
 Broas said the Communicable Diseases Act is unambiguous, and that quarantine and isolation orders are official regulations.
 "Municipal infectious disease authorities are responsible for their implementation, including monitoring and directing compliance with quarantine and isolation rules," Broas said.

Berry companies moved workers around the country, though many infected or exposed


Summary: Meanwhile, Afghan nationals who helped Finnish troops will be evacuated by Tuesday at the latest, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto.

Finnish Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  (Green) told Yle on Monday morning that the country aimed to evacuate Finnish nationals in Afghanistan over the course of the day.
 In just over a week, militant group the Taliban has seized power in the war-torn country, with the militant organisation's officials declaring victory on Monday.
 On Sunday the country's president  Ashraf Ghani  fled the country as Taliban forces took over the capital city of Kabul, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, according to news outlet Reuters.
 Haavisto said that  Afghan nationals who assisted Finnish troops  in the country over the years would also be evacuated by Tuesday at the latest.
 Finland decided  to increase the number of residence permits granted to people, and their families, who have recently been employed by Finland, Nato or the EU in Afghanistan. A total of 170 Afghans will now be granted asylum in Finland, up from the  previous figure  of 130.
 Finland began participating in the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2002, and subsequently its successor mission Operation Resolute Support, until withdrawing on 8 June this year. During that period, a number of Afghan nationals worked alongside Finnish personnel, in the capacity of interpreters or translators, for example.
 Finland announced late on Sunday night that the Finnish embassy in Kabul had been closed indefinitely and that diplomatic staff were to be evacuated from the country. Additionally, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs urged all Finnish citizens who were in Afghanistan to leave the country.
 On Monday morning Haavisto said that the country's diplomats in Afghanistan were safe.
 "[The ministry] has been in contact with Finnish citizens and foreigners with a permanent residence in Finland who have submitted their travel plans to Afghanistan. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will assist those who have requested consular assistance as far as possible," the ministry said in a statement issued on Monday.
 Chaos broke out at Kabul's civilian airport on Sunday night and into Monday morning after hundreds of Afghans thronged the facility's runway area, trying to climb aboard the final commercial flight out of the country, according to media reports including from Reuters.
 Finnish national airline Finnair joined many other international airlines in suspending flights over Afghanistan airspace, according to tabloid Iltalehti. The Finnish carrier normally flies over the country on routes to Bangkok and Singapore.
 Some countries, including Turkey and France, announced on Monday morning that they would evacuate their own nationals as well as Afghan citizens during Monday.

Finns in Afghanistan to be airlifted on Monday, Foreign Minister says


Summary: As package deliveries continued to grow, the volume of letters Posti processed shrank.

Finland's mail service firm Posti announced increased adjusted operating profits during the first half of this year on Wednesday.
 Profits rose to 14.7 million euros, an increase of 3.1 million euros compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, net sales increased by just over three percent to 404.3 million euros.
 The volume of parcels that Posti delivered domestically and to the Baltic countries increased by 16 percent, with the growth prompted by an uptick in online shopping as the coronavirus crisis continued throughout the first half of this year.
 However, the amount of mail Posti processed and delivered continued to decline, with a decrease of nine percent compared to the first half of 2020.
 Although profits were up, in a revised outlook the firm said that this year's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would be roughly the same as last year, which was around 186.5 million euros.
 The company said its efforts at formulating an outlook were hampered by the ongoing Covid-19 situation, which it said has caused uncertainty.
 Posti's president and CEO,  Turkka Kuusisto , said he was pleased with the results.
 "After a year of unexpected and significant changes in demand, the highest volume peaks seem to be smoothing over. However, the trend is still clear: parcel and logistics volumes continue to rise while demand for postal services keeps declining," he said in the firm's financial release.

Posti's profits up thanks to online shopping


Summary: A vaccine specialist told Yle that the claims made on an anti-vaccine website are either unintentionally or intentionally false and misleading.

As Finland started  rolling out coronavirus vaccinations  to all 12- to 15-year-olds from Monday this week, a parallel campaign of anti-vaccination disinformation began targeting the age group through social media channels, including the popular photo sharing site Instagram.
 Many of the posts reference the  Pelastetaan lapset  (roughly translated as 'Let's Save the Children' and not to be confused with the international 'Save the Children' charity or  Pelastakaa Lapset  in Finnish) website.
 The 'Let's Save the Children' site says that it wants to prevent coronavirus vaccinations being given to children and young people, citing a claim that there have been a record number of reports of harmful side effects from the jab.
 For its part, the 'Save the Children' site released a  statement  (in Finnish) saying that the similarity of the two organisations' names was "very unfortunate" and emphasised that it was not involved in any way with the anti-vaccine campaign.
 Jarno Limnéll , Professor of cybersecurity at Aalto University, told Yle that he considered the anti-vaccination  Pelastetaan lapset  group to be fundamentally suspicious and that the name was likely chosen deliberately to cause confusion.
 "I think the choice of this confusing name was intentional. I find it very unfortunate," Limnéll said, adding that he has closely followed the international debate on vaccine disinformation and wonders what lessons Finland can learn from it.
 Anti-vaccine campaign information is "misleading"
 Vaccine specialist  Mika Rämet  of the Vaccine Research Centre at the University of Tampere told Yle that the statements made by the 'Let's Save the Children' group are incorrect and misleading, whether intentionally or unintentionally so.
 "But it is intentional to present the vaccination of children and young people as being a bad thing," he said.
 He added that all of the information on the organisation's website is misleading, citing one example of a claim made by the group that the World Health Organization (WHO) would not recommend vaccination for 12-15-year-olds.
 "That's not true. The WHO has outlined that the vaccine can be given to young people aged 12 years and up. Earlier, the WHO stated that vaccination of at-risk groups aged 12-15 is ok," Rämet said, adding that the anti-vaccination campaigners make a number of distorted interpretations about the vaccine's levels of protection against the virus as well as inaccurate information about the vaccine's marketing authorisations by regulators.
 "Firstly there is always a conditional marketing authorisation. That's a normal sales route. And when it comes to vaccine protection, the study figures are deliberately interpreted in such a way that the importance of the vaccine seems to be kept to a minimum," Rämet explained.
 In a  post on his blog  (in Finnish) on the subject, Rämet said the anti-vaccine campaign had also deliberately misrepresented reports of side effects caused by coronavirus vaccines. On its website, the 'Let's Save the Children' group claims that there have been numerous reports of serious side effects caused by the vaccine, but Rämet argued that the number of reports was not the most important factor.
 "The number of adverse reactions does not indicate harmfulness, but it is more important to follow what types of reports come from there," he wrote.
 Rämet further advised that it is important to consider who is conveying the information, especially online, and what their agenda might be. The anti-vaccine groups seem to be well organised, he said, but such groups and their motives themselves are unclear.
 "Who has an interest in making vaccine coverage as poor as possible in Finland and recovering from the epidemic as difficult as possible?" he asks.
 Anti-vaccine group hiding behind email
 On its website, 'Let's Save the Children' writes that the its name was not deliberately chosen because of a similarity to the internationally-recognised charity, and that no offence was intended towards 'Save the Children'.
 Yle requested an interview with the administrators of 'Let's Save the Children', but they replied that they only respond as a group via email.
 The group's website does not provide any contact phone numbers and does not reveal who is responsible for which tasks.
 An unidentified individual, who introduced themselves as a physician representing 'Let's Save the Children', did reply to Yle via email, however.
 "The reason for the team's cautiousness, and the preference for email, is so that none of us would be the target of a hate speech campaign and also enable the group to reflect on our responses to a scientifically-honed standard and that everyone can stand behind them," the email said.
 The site strongly implied that doctors and medical professionals support its message, with a list of "petition signatories" on the front page.
 Yle checked the backgrounds of all the healthcare professionals mentioned from the public register of social welfare and healthcare workers  Julki Terhikki , updated by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health Valvira.
 Yle found that two doctors on the list have had their right to practice medicine restricted, and it was not possible to fully verify the qualifications of every individual listed by the group because there are people with the same name listed within the register.
 Disinformation intended to "cause confusion"
 According to cybersecurity professor Limnéll, the website is clearly designed and presented in order to influence people's opinions.
 "A familiar-sounding name is used and medical experts with their titles are introduced," he said, adding that it always raises suspicions when a site does not have any contact information or are intentionally hidden.
 "When this website has a questionable name that is clearly intended to be confusing and there is no proper contact information, then yes it suggests that everything is not quite right," Limnéll said.
 "It is good that the issue of vaccines is being discussed and different perspectives are being brought into the debate. But then responsibility must be remembered, in terms of pursuing the truth and sharing factual information. One must be prepared for a civilised discussion, even if one disagrees," he said.
 Disinformation is intended to cause confusion, Limnéll added, and many such scam sites can be very professionally presented and designed in the modern online world, even if their underlying motives are difficult to ascertain.
 He said it is most important to always be critically aware of all sources, as the origin of the information is crucial.
 "Where has the information come from, where is it published and does it have scientific relevance? Which parties reported on the research and with what motivation," Limnéll said.

Anti-vaccination disinformation targets youths on Finnish social media


Summary: Valta Kuuluu Kansalle (VKK), or Power Belongs to the People, will need to garner 5,000 signatures in order to become a recognised political party.

Member of Parliament  Ano Turtiainen , who was  ejected from the Finns Party  earlier this year, has started the process of collecting the signatures needed to launch a new political party, which he intends to call  Valta Kuuluu Kansalle  (VKK), roughly translated as "Power Belongs to the People."
 Turtiainen was expelled after posting racist tweets in  June 2020  mocking  George Floyd , an African-American killed by US police in late May 2020.
 According to a VKK press release, the party programme has been approved by the Ministry of Justice, thus kickstarting the process of collecting supporter signatures from Wednesday 11 August.
 VKK will need the support of at least 5,000 people in order to become a recognised political party, with signatures collected via the party registration service puoluerekisteri.fi.
 The party has stated that one of ts goals is to strengthen direct democracy, for example in the form of referendums.
 "Finland must be governed according to the will of the majority of its citizens. The leaders of the people must serve the people and not the other way around," the VKK website reads.
 The group also insisted that Finland must remain non-partisan in military matters as highlighted by the slogan "Independent and impartial Finland."
 Other founding members of the VKK include  Ilkka Tiainen , who sought to chair the Centre Party last year, former Finns Party member  Jarno Vähäkainu,  and citizen activist  Suvi Ahonen .

Former Finns Party MP begins process of creating new party


Summary: The vaccination of all workers and uncertainty over the Delta variant are reasons for workplaces to take their time when preparing for employees' return to work.

Finnish workplaces should proceed with caution and patience when drafting plans for the post-Covid return to work, and make use of risk assessments, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has urged in a press release.
 Not all employees will have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine, the institute's Director-General  Antti Koivula  pointed out, and this must be taken into consideration when preparations are being made.
 "In general, we encourage workplaces to take additional time when making their Covid-exit plans," Koivula said, adding that the institute encourages employers to take this time to agree the terms under which employees can return to work.
 "Flexible work practices should be aligned at the workplace, team and individual levels," according to  Sanna Kulmala , Program Director of the institute's  TYÖ2030  (WORK2030) programme.
 Finland's coronavirus situation is uncertain and is likely to remain so during the autumn, the institute added, especially if the Delta variant continues to spread.
 Therefore, it is important that workplaces use all means of protection against the virus, such as the maintaining of safe distances and use of face masks.
 Koivula added that telecommuting should continue to some extent, where possible, and suggested that employers engage in a constructive dialogue with employees on the subject of vaccinations and how working arrangements can be achieved.
 "Sometimes an employer may have to consider, in the context of a risk assessment, whether a potentially unvaccinated worker who is at risk of becoming ill or infecting others extensively may be assigned to the job. However, these are also partly constitutional issues," Koivula said, referring to issues such as patient confidentiality.

Occupational health body urges patience in post-Covid strategy


Summary: Snowy Christmases are already becoming a rarity in Finland, especially in southern parts of the country.

Children in Finland often hear their parents and grandparents say, "When I was your age I would have to ski 30 kilometres to school."
 That reality, often remembered by older generations, could become a thing of the past much faster than scientists had previously predicted, according to Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) research professor  Hannele Korhonen.
 While Lapland is set to see its hills covered in snow at least until the end of the century, the sub-freezing periods that accommodate heavy snowfall will become dramatically shorter, Korhonen predicts. This will be particularly evident in southern areas of Finland where winter snows are becoming increasingly shorter and rarer.
 "In the next few decades, there will still be snowy winters in southern Finland, because we have a large variation between the years, but the further we go towards the end of this century, the less often they will come," Korhonen said at a press conference on Monday.
 Worst consequences can still be averted
 Stalling or averting global warming will require some serious commitment in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC report published on Monday.
 "We can still avoid the worst consequences, but not if we continue like today, and not without treating the crisis like a crisis," climate activist  Greta Thunberg  tweeted on Monday
 Story continues after photo.
 .
 Winter in Espoo, 2021. Henrietta Hassinen / Yle
 The speed and the extent to which Finnish winters become warmer still lies in the hands of decision-makers, Korhonen added.
 "If emissions are not properly eliminated, snowy winters in the south will begin to be a really rare treat by the turn of the century," she said.
 This could have a knock on effect for generations to come.
 "The unfortunate fact is that warming will continue until global net zero emissions are achieved," Korhonen said, adding that "if we reduce emissions at a global level rapidly, the change will soon start to slow down."
 Which areas should brace for 'black winters'?
 Scientists still struggle to make precise predictions in terms of which areas should start preparing for so-called 'black winters', and which will enjoy a brighter Finnish winter for a little while longer.
 Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) researcher  Anna Luomaranta  confirmed that current precipitation trends paint a picture of 'snowy Finland' that extends from Lapland until the northern regions of Central Finland as well as eastern areas, however "it's not really possible to draw strict borderlines" the FMI researcher told Yle News.
 The approximate 'snowy upper half' of Finland will continue to see increased snowfall in the near future as sub-zero temperatures will see the increased precipitation fall as snow.
 However "it's not like nothing happens there," Luomaranta said, adding that "the snow season is already shifting to later beginning times and earlier ending times."
 On the other hand, temperature readings above zero are increasingly observed in the southern half of the country during winter, making long snow cover periods increasingly rare and fragmented, according to the meteorologist.
 "A bigger part of [the winter precipitation] will come as rain, so in liquid form, and this is something that we have observed already in southern and southwestern Finland," said Luomaranta.
 Of the fragmented snowfall that remains, it will predominantly fall in the form of wet snow and sleet, a phenomenon all too familiar already for citizens of the capital and other southern areas of Finland.

Climate change will hit Finland's winters hard, researchers warn


Summary: The gambling company said it hopes to find new positions elsewhere within the organisation for as many of the affected workers as possible.

Finland's state-owned gambling monopoly Veikkaus has announced the beginning of co-determination talks with staff representatives which may affect up to 830 employees.
 The company said in a press release that a maximum of 200 people may lose their jobs as a result of the negotiations, and the terms and conditions of employment of a further 330 workers may change significantly.
 Veikkaus said the move is necessary due to changes in the company's operating environment and business volumes over recent years, but it will strive to offer new positions in different parts of the company to employees facing lay-offs.
 "One concrete example is Casino Tampere, which will open in December, and which will require about 50 more workers to create a completely new type of casino," Veikkaus' Director of Channels and Sales  Jari Heino  said in the firm's press release.

Veikkaus begins lay-off talks with 200 jobs on the line


Finland's Finance Minister  Annika Saarikko's  (Cen) first budget will be finalised this autumn, but it's a long process. First talks this week within the Finance Ministry will finalise the ministry's own view on what the state's income and expenditure should look like.
 Then later in the autumn the government plans to reach specific decisions on employment and climate change action.
 Smoking will get more expensive next year, assuming that the tax increase is passed on straight to consumers.
 The increase will be 50 cents a pack next year, and the same again in 2023, with a pack of twenty coming in at around ten euros by 2024.
 Story continues after photo
 Silja Viitala / Yle
 That's one of the few certainties in this budget, as the government has agreed the increase already. The rest of the details on the Finance Ministry's proposal will become clear on Thursday and Friday, after two days of talks between officials at the ministry.
 That is not the end of the matter, however. The parties in government then have to debate and adjust the proposal until the politicians are satisfied, which should take until late September.
 Then the budget proceeds to parliament for a vote.
 This story takes a look at some of the big issues to be decided during the budgeting process.
 1. Petrol, alcohol and income taxes unlikely to rise
 Next year the government is expected to avoid new alcohol taxes, as the government programme's planned alcohol tax increases have already been implemented. Saarikko's predecessor as Finance Minister  Matti Vanhanen  (Cen) said in May that increases in petrol taxes had also already been implemented for this electoral term.
 Story continues after photo
 AOP
 Rowing back on the statement would be politically difficult, especially for the Centre Party. The government has already announced cuts in subsidies for businesses using diesel from 2023, which could raise the cost of diesel for consumers by around one cent per litre.
 The eventual impact of that change is difficult to predict, however, as global markets affect the diesel price.
 It is expected that there will be no increases in income taxes, in line with recent years' practice.
 2. Bigger deductions for household work
 The budget proposal will include things that the government agreed in April. One of those is a temporary increased tax deduction for householders installing new equipment to replace an oil-powered heating system, due to be in force until 2027.
 More specific decisions on deductions for other household expenses and care services are expected. Those will come under a two-year trial period.
 3. Will there be changes to income-linked unemployment benefits or debt collection?
 The government has said that by the end of the year it will decide on employment-boosting measures that should boost the public finances by some 110 million euros.
 Finance Minister Saarikko has emphasised sticks rather than carrots as the unemployed are encouraged to get new jobs, to try and ease an expected labour shortage.
 There is not yet consensus on this, with the left-wing parties in government opposing changes to Finland's income-linked unemployment benefit provision.
 One change would be to set an earnings-based qualification requirement, so that people would have to earn 844 euros in each of the preceding six months to qualify. At present, people have to work at least 18 hours per week over 26 weeks, and be a member of an unemployment insurance fund.
 Finance ministry number crunchers say that would nudge an additional 1,500 people into employment, saving several million euros a year in public spending.
 White-collar trade union confederation STTK has criticised the model, saying that it favours higher-income workers over lower-income ones.
 Another possibility is a change to the system for debt management to make it easier for heavily indebted people to enter a debt restructuring programme. At present compulsory salary deductions for debt repayment can make paid work unprofitable for some heavily-indebted individuals.
 There were some 275,000 people in debt recovery proceedings last year. Research has shown debt recovery proceedings have a drastic effect on incentives to work.
 Reforming the system is politically difficult, however, as the rights of lenders and holders of debt must be balanced against those of debtors.
 Story continues after graphic

 4. 100-150 million euros of new taxes on the way
 In the spring, ministers agreed that tax revenues would have to rise by between 100 and 150 million euros from 2022. The details remained unspecified, and it is likely that the lion's share of the tax increases will come after next year.
 One method would be to tax foreign investment funds' property investment profits. There is agreement within the government on this proposal, but it would be enacted in 2023 to ensure sufficient time to draft the law.
 The government also has to reach an agreement on tax-free dividend payments to institutional investors.
 The SDP wants to bring in a five percent tax on such payments to pension funds and mutual funds.
 The tax would not, however, affect investments made by trade unions and charitable foundations.
 Saarikko's proposal is unlikely to include the tax. A Finance Ministry working group found in June that a new tax would not work well with the current dividend taxation framework.
 The government will also consider a crackdown on firms using debt to avoid taxation, which rose to prominence after a  Finnwatch report  on the electricity transmission firm Caruna and others.
 Finnwatch said the legal tax avoidance schemes were worth tens of millions of euros to the electricity transmission firms.
 Story continues after photo
 Henrietta Hassinen / Yle
 5. What about climate change?
 The government's climate plans are also in the spotlight, with the Greens and Left Alliance particularly keen to see new decisions in the budget talks.
 Green leader  Maria Ohisalo  has demanded emissions cuts from the agricultural sector, with peat fields and machinery emissions to be cut and crop management adjusted to better retain carbon in soils.
 6. The income-debt balance
 Economic growth and improving employment have been discussed all summer. The question now is whether improved growth will show in state revenues next year, and thereby reduce the need to take on new debt.
 In the framework agreed this spring, the budget had a 7.6 billion euro deficit. That is slated to be covered by new debt.
 7. Covid expenses
 There are likely to be expenses related to Covid in 2022 as well. Testing and healthcare costs need to be covered, and the government has said it will cover them — but the numbers are expected to be lower.

Tobacco taxes set to rise, but what else will Finland's budget bring? Here's how the process unfolds


Summary: Due to anticipated continued increased temperatures, Finland's inland fishing problems are likely to continue.

Among its various effects, global climate change will also cause difficulties for the fishing industry. Fishermen — and women — will need to adapt to the changing types of fish that are still available.
 For example, the amount of vendace and whitefish in Finland's inland waters, which are key to commercial fishers, are set to decline, according to fisheries scientist  Ari Leskelä .
 At the same time, the numbers of pike, roach and perch will increase, he explained.
 Like salmon and whitefish, vendace needs cool, oxygenated water in order to thrive.
 Johanna Halonen , 27, fishes professionally in Lake Oulujärvi, or would be doing so more if the conditions were better. The large lake, some 928 square kilometres, is located in Finland's Kainuu region.
 However, this summer the lake was too warm for fishing to be profitable, and the  high temperatures  even prompted local authorities to suspend issuing fishing licenses during July.
 In lieu of dwindling income from fishing, Halonen had to find work off the water.
 "I've had to drive a taxi alongside fishing because I haven't been able to earn enough money. The bills are paid from the taxi work," she explained.
 Normally at this time of year, Halonen's fish nets would already be laid in the water but she can't put them out because the combination of warm water temperatures and being caught in fishing nets kills the fish quickly, making them inedible by the time they're pulled to the surface.
 "If they're caught in the net, they'll turn to fish soup pretty fast," Halonen explained.
 Story continues after photo.
 Fish in a bucket. Timo Sihvonen / Yle
 Due to expected increased temperatures caused by global climate change, Halonen's fishing problems are set to continue.
 According to scientist Leskelä, Finland's waters will become less optimal for fishing as the summers get warmer.
 Warm water that is low in oxygen stresses fish belonging to the Salmonidae family, which include salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes, and graylings. That stress causes the fish to stop eating, which then leads them to stop growing, according to Leskelä.
 "If the waters are even warmer and oxygen levels are further reduced, fish are more susceptible to disease and parasites. In extreme situations, fish can suffer metabolic disorders," he explained.
 The effects of one exceptionally warm summer on fish stocks is temporary, but as warming continues, the changes may become permanent, he said.
 "However, we do have a rather long cold water period in Finland when fishing can continue. The open water fishing season will likely be extended," he suggested.
 Professional fisherwoman Halonen has already prepared for what seems to be an inevitable career change, saying she has completed nursing school.

Finnish fisherwoman turns to driving taxi due to climate change


Summary: The papers track the impact of the summer reopening had on the pandemic and ask whether VR is keeping passengers safe on its commuter trains.

As Covid case numbers dropped, bars and restaurants reopened and summer festivals went ahead, many people felt free to enjoy something more like a normal summer.
 But now, as a feature in  Thursday's Helsingin Sanomat  reports, the chains of coronavirus infection arising from the return of social life are threatening the contact tracing process.
 "Where there are a lot of people, a stranger cannot name another stranger as an exposed person,"  Eeva Ruotsalainen , from the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), told HS.
 Local officials in Vantaa told the paper their resources were at breaking point.  Timo Aronkytö , the city's deputy mayor in charge of social and health care told the paper that tracing now requires resources "that are not available".
 "Now the queue is so long that we can no longer contact the exposed in time. Now we contact them in 5-8 days — and by then those who are infected are already sick," he said.
 The Communicable Diseases Act obliges municipalities to trace people potentially exposed to coronavirus, but Vantaa's Aronkytö told HS that at current volumes procedures would have to be changed — in future he would like to shift more responsibility to individuals.
 "When people get sick, they would tell people at work and elsewhere. The individual needs support from the bureaucracy, but the responsibility for containing the disease would go to the individual," he said.
 _ Yle's weekly newsletter is back from the summer break. Sign up  here  to receive a selection of the week's top stories! _
 Finnish guards on the Belarusian border
 Tabloid  Ilta-Sanomat reports from Lithuania , where Finnish border guards are taking part in a so-called "rapid border intervention" along the EU's frontier with Belarus.
 Finland is taking part along with 17 other countries as "unauthorised" border crossings have risen in recent months - due, the paper alleges, to a deliberate policy by Belarus' leader  Alexander Lukashenko  to "weaponise" undocumented migration.
 In response, Lithuania has introduced a controversial new law that sees authorities "fast track" migrants back into Belarus. Usually, asylum seekers are allowed to make their case before facing potential removal from the country.
 This puts the Finnish representatives in a difficult position, IS reported. "We cannot participate in the implementation of this new law. We can only watch from the sidelines and report what we see, but fast-tracking is not part of Frontex's mandate," a border guard named Ahonen told the paper.
 In response, the EU's border agency Frontex told IS that it was not responsible for the political decisions made by member states.
 Commuter campaign over train safety
 Pirkanmaa local  Aamulehti reports on a tweet  by a regular train commuter that sparked debate over safety on board VR services that do not always have staff on hand to help.
 In July,  Julia Sangervo , a regular passenger on the R commuter train that plies the Helsinki-Tampere route, tweeted about an incident on board an evening service.
 "VR's trains feel unsafe. Just today, a drunken, unmasked man tried to touch me and behaved threateningly all the way. There was no conductor anywhere or any way to contact them," she said.
 According to Aamulehti, she was joined by others who had experienced similar situations on the R train, which covers the distance between the two cities in around two hours.
 In response to Aamulehti's questions, VR manager  Topi Simola  told the paper that he understood reports of late-night incidents had been decreasing.
 "This does not mean that every single journey will be without disruption to passengers. I'm certainly not saying that," he told the paper.
 Simola also told Aamulehti that while the company did not place staff on trains at all times of day, it had decided to roster conductors on the R train an hour earlier than previously.

Thursday's papers: Contact tracing breaking point, train danger and Belarus border


Summary: The independent MP who was expelled from the Finns Party last year said his new group would advocate for direct democracy.

Member of Parliament  Ano Turtiainen , who was  ejected from the Finns Party  earlier this year, gathered enough signatures needed to launch a new political party in a single day.
 Turtiainen's planned new party,  Valta kuuluu kansalle  (VKK), or "Power Belongs to the People" announced that it had crossed the 5,000-signature threshold after midnight on 12 August.
 By Thursday morning, more than 5200 statements of support had been collected.
 A press release from the mooted party's organisers claimed it was the first time that the number of declarations of support for a new political party had been collected so quickly.
 "Power belongs to the people, and in accordance with the principles of direct democracy, all Finns must be able to decide together on Finland's political direction. This is what the new party will continue to advocate. Finland must no longer be steered by the narrow interests of different parties, but in a direction determined by the Finns themselves," Turtiainen said in a statement.
 In order to finalise Power Belongs to the People's registration as an official political party, the Ministry of Justice will forward the collected statements of support to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency for confirmation that the number of valid statements is sufficient.
 Turtiainen, who represents South Savo in Parliament, was expelled from the Finns Party after posting racist tweets in  June 2020  mocking  George Floyd , an African-American killed by US police last year.

MP Turtiainen gathers 5,000 signatures for new party in one day


Finland's government is making preparations to evacuate potentially dozens of Afghans who worked for the country during the lengthy military conflict in Afghanistan, Finnish Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  said.
 "There is a consensus in the government that they have a duty to help them," the minister told Yle, adding that the obligation affects individuals who are in possible danger because they worked and provided services to Finland.
 "According to our information, not all of [those who helped Finland] feels threatened or finds the situation to be oppressive. Others find the situation to be more difficult and we are now dealing with it," Haavisto said.
 The security situation in Afghanistan worsened after foreign troops, who had been in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, withdrew from the country. The Taliban military group has gained power in several cities in recent days.
 Haavisto said the situation, particularly for girls and women in the country, is getting worse.
 The minister's comments followed the Defence Forces' public affairs chief,  Max Arhippainen  saying that Finland had not directly employed local Afghans since 2007.
 "During 2002-2007 a total of 17 Afghans worked for Finnish troops. It was a question of locally-recruited interpreters and some others," he said, according to Svenska Yle.
 He went on to add that "Finland has not had locally hired personnel in Afghanistan since 2007 and Finland has no insight into other countries' recruitment procedures."
 Arhippainen refused to be drawn on the moral question of who was responsible for the Afghan workers seeking to secure their safety outside Afghanistan, but instead referred such inquiries to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Defence Ministry.
 Ambassador: Whose responsibility?
 Also on Wednesday, Finnish Ambassador to Afghanistan,  Pekka Kosonen , told Svenska Yle that at least 15 Afghans who worked alongside Finns in the country have reached out for help.
 Finland began participating in the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2002.
 However, starting in 2008, Kosonen told Svenska Yle, countries including Germany were responsible for recruiting local personnel. He said the question now is to what extent Germany is exclusively responsible for the Afghans who worked for the ISAF, or whether several countries could grant protective status to the workers.
 Kosonen told Svenska Yle that the United States had previously introduced a system to grant visas and asylum to interpreters who worked alongside US troops.
 Story continues after photo.
 Pekka Haavisto. Mikko Koski / Yle
 Haavisto said that Finland needed to formulate its own policy in order to take action.
 "For the first time, Finland has found itself in a situation where we have to evacuate citizens of a country where we have carried out development cooperation and peacekeeping. Therefore, no legislation has previously been prepared. With the preparation of the government, we can find a way to offer such special assistance," the minister said.
 Finland took part in ISAF and its successor mission Operation Resolute Support for around 20 years, finally withdrawing on 8 June this year.
 According to Haavisto, the government gathered information about the Afghans who worked for Finland during that time, as well as their wishes for the future, over the summer.
 Some of the Afghan nationals have since changed employers since working for Finland, with Haavisto saying their situations were being investigated. Finland is also examining how such individuals are treated after having worked for an EU state.
 "This is being looked at by Finland as well as the EU overall. No one should be left in an impossible situation or have their security threatened because they've worked for the EU delegation in Kabul," Haavisto explained.
 The US, UK and Germany have already begun evacuating thousands of Afghan workers and their families.
 So far, the Taliban has killed more than 300 Afghans who assisted or worked for international forces.

Foreign Minister: Government planning evacuation of Afghans who assisted Finland


Summary: Finland's largest annual cultural event, the Helsinki Festival, will be mostly cancelled due to stringent new measures.

The Regional State Administrative Agency (Avi) for Southern Finland on Thursday decided to tighten restrictions on public gatherings in Helsinki and the neighbouring municipalities of Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa as of Friday 20 August.
 Just 25 people will be allowed to gather indoors under the rules, and they must remain two metres apart.
 In practice, this means that indoor hobbies (including children's hobbies), concerts, and large events will be extremely difficult to organise and many will be cancelled or postponed.
 The restrictions are to remain in place until September 12.
 The Avi noted that the coronavirus situation in the Helsinki metropolitan area has clearly worsened and that the area is again designated in the community spread phase.
 Under its latest decision, public events and general meetings in Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa can only be organised with up to 25 people indoors and up to 50 people in limited outdoor areas.
 Arrangements must ensure that it is actually possible for participants to avoid close contact, the agency said. It defines close contact as being less than two metres apart for more than 15 minutes indoors, or in physical contact indoors or out.
 The only way organisers may exceed total audience limits is if audiences are split up into separate demarcated areas with seating in each one below the 25 or 50 maximum, and making sure that participants can avoid close contact.
 Clear protection zones must be established between each block, and each block must have its own entrance and exit, toilets, possible catering services and staff. Blocks can use the same services if their use is staggered, and if they are properly cleaned between uses.
 Most hobbies banned
 AVI restrictions do not apply to private events. These are covered by recommendations from hospital districts and municipalities.
 The rules do cover events organised by municipalities and other local authorities, companies and religious communities.
 The regulation applies to interior settings with more than 10 participants at the same time. The corresponding limit for outdoor use is 50.
 In high-risk areas, such as indoor sports facilities, the regulation must be followed even if there are fewer customers at any given time. The rules do not apply to educational institutions including early childhood education, professional sports or private or family events, but hobbies organised by clubs and others have to comply.
 The Avi's Chief Physician  Mikko Valkonen  said that the rules are there for a reason, and the legal responsibility lies with hobby, sport and event organisers, but people themselves also have to take responsibility.
 "I would say that the individual still has the primary responsibility," said Valkonen. "It's not compulsory to go and play there. Every sensible person should understand that and leave."
 Finnkino: Major impact on film industry
 Initial reactions from event organisers were downbeat.
 The nation's biggest cinema chain, Finnkino, said on Thursday that it was "very disappointed" with the new restrictions. Until now, cinemas have had safety distances of two metres, with only 20 percent of capacity in use.
 With the new restrictions, the capacity will be further reduced and only 25 people can be accommodated in each cinema. In some cases, theatres can be divided into blocks.
 "The new restrictions will have a dramatic effect on Finnkino's operations. We are very disappointed with these decisions. This will have a big impact on the entire film industry as visitor numbers will drop significantly," said the chain's sales director,  Hannele Wolf-Mannila .
 Finnkino sees the decision to restrict gatherings as unfair, arguing that the events industry has been treated more strictly than other sectors.
 "During this entire coronavirus epidemic, no chain of infection has been detected in cinemas in Finland or around the world. Furthermore, this is an industry that is already most severely restricted," Wolf-Mannila said.
 Wolf-Mannila called on the government to come up with a clearer policy on how the event and cultural sector will be able to operate in future.
 "We're still in a situation where we find out no more than a week in advance how we can run our business. It makes this quite difficult. We want to send a message to the government that stronger action is needed now," she said.
 Helsinki Ice Hall: "Paralyses virtually all operations"
 Helsinki Ice Hall said on Thursday that it was discussing with event organisers whether events can be held with smaller audiences, divided into blocks.
 However, according to managing director  Tom Kivimäki , it is practically certain that events will have to be cancelled or postponed. The Ice Hall has a seating capacity of more than 8,000.
 The venue is now staging a Queen musical, and was scheduled to host Angry Birds on Ice and several pop and rock concerts in September and October – some of them already rescheduled from previous dates.
 "This will paralyse practically all of our activities. It's a 100 percent halt; you could say that," he said.
 According to Kivimäki, it is not feasible to compartmentalise the audience into smaller blocks.
 "Each block must have its own entrances, its own toilets, its own stewards. There are too many of these clauses to make it technically possible," he said.
 "From a business point of view, the decisions that the Avi has made are really difficult," Kivimäki added.
 Nearly all Helsinki Festival events cancelled
 Finland's largest annual cultural event, the Helsinki Festival, will be cancelled as of 20 August except for a few "Covid-proof" offerings. Among other things, all events at the Huvila festival tent and the Helsinki Music Centre will be scratched.
 Article continues after photo
 All concerts at the Huvila festival tent are cancelled. Jussi Hellsten
 The festival begins next Thursday, 19 August – a day before the restrictions take effect. Therefore, the festival's opening concert will also become its closing concert. The Helsinki Philharmonic is to perform composer Philip Glass’s  Heroes Symphony , based on music by  David Bowie  and  Brian Eno , whose brother  Roger Eno  is scheduled to perform later that evening.
 "The decision was one we did not want. And our view is that it's not even based on the Communicable Diseases Act," said  Stuba Nikula , CEO of the Helsinki Events Foundation, which organises the Festival.
 Nikula criticised the restrictions being based on strict audience numbers regardless of venue size. In his view, the model should be based on that used for restaurants and bars, where the number of customers is limited as a percentage, based on each establishment's capacity.
 Splitting the audience into smaller sections is not really an option, Nikula told Yle. He said this works mostly in football stadiums and similar places with lots of entrances and other facilities.
 "This does not work at all in a theatre or concert hall," he said. The festival was scheduled to run until 5 September.

Capital region bans gatherings, kids' hobbies if social distancing not possible — Helsinki Festival mostly cancelled


Summary: Ministers arriving for government negotiations on Thursday afternoon talks said they would discuss the plight of the cultural sector.

Prime Minister  Sanna Marin  (SDP) has said that the government is to decide on the general guidelines of its so-called hybrid coronavirus strategy on Thursday, including the vaccine coverage target.
 Another key question, according to Marin, is when the epidemic level system can be abandoned in various regions once the desired vaccine coverage has been achieved.
 Marin said before the meeting that the draft negotiating proposal calls for 80-90 percent coverage among those over 12 years of age.
 "We are working to get vaccine coverage in Finland so that we can get rid of the restrictive measures completely," Marin said.
 She spoke before government negotiations on Thursday afternoon at the House of Estates.
 In addition to the general guidelines to be decided on Thursday, a programme of more specific measures is being prepared and will be decided on next week or the following week, she said.
 The cabinet will also discuss the plight of the cultural and event sector, the premier added. According to Marin, relief for the sector is on the cards even before the coronavirus strategy is updated. The talks will address the issue of two-metre safety gaps, which has been criticised by the theatre sector, among others.
 "We want to ensure that cultural activities can remain open. This current situation is not reasonable in that people can go to restaurants, but it's not possible to sit in a theatre even when safety measures have been taken care of," said the premier.
 Kiuru: "Authorities unable to make decisions"
 Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services  Krista Kiuru  (SDP) said she was concerned about Thursday's record-high new infection figures and accused other authorities of an inability to act.
 "We are ending up in a frozen situation where, for one reason or another, the relevant authorities are unable to make decisions. We cannot continue with the number of infections constantly rising while vaccine coverage is insufficient to protect people. That will lead to the closure of society," Kiuru said.
 According to Kiuru, now is the time to act so that society can re-open when vaccine coverage progresses. She said that negotiations would also address a model for assessing the risk potential of various exposure situations, which could be used on a case-by-case basis to determine when safety distances are sufficient.
 "This risk-based assessment should be introduced as an epidemic tool. It would allow us, even if vaccine coverage is insufficient, to be able to keep society partially open," said the second health minister.
 Yle has learned that under the plan, restrictions would be stricter, for example, at events where singing takes place, and lower, for example, at events where there is seating and visitors can be contacted afterwards if need be.
 Relief expected for cultural sector
 Some ministers arriving for the Thursday afternoon talks said the situation in the cultural sector would be one of the main themes of the negotiations.
 Both the Greens chair, Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo , and the Left Alliance chair, Minister of Education  Li Andersson , emphasised the need for measures to help the financially strapped industry.
 “The current legislation and the way it has been applied in practice make organising cultural events very challenging or impossible,” Andersson said.
 According to Ohisalo, the most important issue is to quickly decide on measures that can be used to assess the risk of organising various events.
 Minister of Science and Culture  Antti Kurvinen  (Cen) also signalled that he would demand changes to the two-metre safety distance rule.
 Kurvinen hopes that information about limits on indoor events will be available as soon as possible so that event organisers can plan for the autumn season.

Marin, other ministers promise help for cultural sector


Summary: The company also announced plans to acquire 'hyper casual' game studio, Turkish firm Ruby Games.

Finnish mobile gaming firm Rovio reported that its adjusted operating profit in the second quarter was 6.2 million euros, compared to 13.8 million euros the same period last year.
 Like the mobile gaming industry at large, the firm's Q2 profits in 2020 were bolstered by the onset of the coronavirus epidemic.
 Rovio's net sales during April-June held steady compared to a year earlier, at around 69 million euros, the company said in its quarterly financial announcement on Thursday.
 The effect of the year-on-year profit decline announcement was seen on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, where the firm's share value fell by more than six percent after trading started on Thursday morning.
 The firm said it remained confident about the further growth of the mobile gaming market, adding that the growth was increasingly driven by casual gamers. Hyper-casual games are mobile games that are easy to play and typically free.
 Hyper casual
 "The mobile gaming market continues to grow with casual gaming being a major growth driver. The ongoing changes in consumer behaviour and underlying market trends are accelerated by the Covid pandemic and plays an important role in both current games’ operation and new game development," the firm said in its financial statement.
 The firm also announced plans on Thursday to acquire the Turkish 'hyper casual' gaming studio Ruby Games, with Rovio buying the majority of the gaming company's shares in just over one year.
 Rovio CEO,  Alex Pelletier-Normand , said the acquisition was an important step in the company's growth strategy.
 "By entering the rapidly growing hyper-casual market we are enriching our audience base, and offering our players a more diverse portfolio of titles… Ruby Games has launched several successful games and their hit-ratio is impressive," he said in a statement about the acquisition.
 Ruby Games is the studio behind the game Hunter Assassin which, according to Rovio, was the sixth most downloaded game in the world last year.

Angry Birds developer Rovio's Q2 profits fall by 50%, year-on-year


Summary: The initiative invites tech professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors to live in Helsinki for three months, promising to help them settle into the city and sample the Finnish lifestyle.

Physicist, data scientist and Discovery Channel TV host  Deborah Berebichez  has quit the '90 Day Finn' programme, saying the programme did not keep its promises — but she and her family still plan to stay in Finland.
 In a  post  on LinkedIn, Berebichez explained that the gap between what programme organisers Helsinki Business Hub (HBH) promised to participants and what was actually delivered was "too large and couldn’t be closed."
 "Most importantly, our efforts to bridge this gap were distracting us from the goals that brought us to Helsinki in the first place: launching a tech company and achieving work-life balance," she wrote. "Morally, we didn’t feel like we could continue to promote a program that hadn’t lived up to its promise and left us with bad feelings."
 Even so, Berebichez said she and her family plan to stay in Finland, describing her time in the country as "the most amazing experience".
 Key promises not kept
 Berebichez had been  the most high-profile  of the 14 participants selected to participate in the programme, which is aimed at attracting foreign expertise to Finland and improving the country's reputation as a place to work.
 In its  call  for applications posted last November, HBH promised a smooth transition into Finnish life, including helping successful applicants with required documentation as well as housing, daycare and healthcare "arranged to suit the participants’ individual needs".
 "Unfortunately, the support we expected did not materialize," Berebichez wrote in her LinkedIn post. "In reality, we found our own housing and daycare for our children; we purchased our own health insurance."
 She added that the first three weeks in the country were spent correcting "mistaken information" she had received about applying for residency in Finland with the Finnish Immigration Service Migri.
 Despite these problems, Berebichez said she and her family were committed to the programme and eventually began to receive some "logistical support" from HBH. However, further problems arose and the relationship with the organisers became strained.
 "We began to see a pattern in our interactions with the program—a continuous struggle to address our needs," she wrote. "It seemed to us that the program was not committed to our success."
 This led to Berebichez and her family deciding to quit, which she announced in a  tweet  on Monday morning, citing a "terribly difficult experience".
 Dissatisfaction with relocation advice
 HBH Business Director  Johanna Huurre  told Yle News that there have been "some misunderstandings" about what the programme offered to participants, but the organisers respect Berebichez's decision to leave.
 "All of the participants have had their own relocation expert, helping them personally with everything they have wanted, but of course every participant also has the right to decide how much they want to use those services," Huurre said.
 Berebichez confirmed to Yle News that a relocation specialist was allocated to her family, but they were dissatisfied with the services provided and much of the help was general in nature or even erroneous.
 Berebichez added that she submitted a very detailed 7-page document to HBH detailing all the setbacks and troubled advice they had received from the relocation specialist. In the case of Migri for example, the wrong advice almost made the family lose the opportunity to apply for residency and stay beyond the 90 days.
 HBH provided the family with a different specialist after learning of these issues, Huurre said.
 Learning lessons from pilot project
 Aside from promoting the country as a place to work, Huurre said that the 90 Day Finn programme is also an opportunity to learn where improvements need to be made in the immigration and integration process through the experiences of the participants.
 "I think in Finland there is much we can improve, and the idea of this pilot project is that we can also learn what the participants think does work and does not work, and then we can improve for the whole society," she said, adding that there is now "a lot of will" among governmental departments, city authorities and Finnish companies to make the necessary changes and smoothen the process of work-based relocation.
 Some of the 13 remaining participants in the programme have already indicated that they plan to stay on in Finland after the three months, Huurre pointed out.
 "Our experience is that when people move here, they realise that it is a really great place to be," she said.
 Plans for future in Finland
 In her LinkedIn post, Berebichez emphasised that she is only quitting the 90 Day Finn programme and that she plans to remain in Finland.
 "We love Finland, which has many positive features to offer foreigners including a safe place to live, universal healthcare, efficient public transportation system, great food, delicious tap water (I am being serious), beautiful nature and soothing quiet," she wrote.
 Instead, she said she plans to develop programmes of her own in data literacy and leadership for women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.
 "I intend to build programs that are attractive to both women living in Finland and also international women—women like myself who are searching for a better work-life balance than what exists in the US," Berebichez explained, adding that she wants to help Finnish society overcome the challenges faced by the working-age population gap.

Science celebrity quits '90 Day Finn' citing broken promises, difficulties with organisers


Summary: Can Finland vaccinate enough people to end pandemic restrictions once and for all? Friday's papers want to know.

With a  new raft of restrictions announced  for the capital region yesterday,  tabloid Iltalehti asks  when Finland will be able to open up again.
 The paper reports Prime Minister  Sanna Marin 's (SDP) comments, made on Thursday, that restrictions could be removed once 80 to 90 percent of people over the age of 12 have been vaccinated against coronavirus.
 In the tabloid's view, this could be hard to pull off.
 "This is a very tough, if not close to impossible, target. In a survey carried out by the Economic Research Institute, 78 percent of people in Finland aged 15 and over intended to take the vaccine," Iltalehti writes.
 But as the paper reports, experts  Mika Rämet , Director of the Vaccine Research Centre, and  Lasse Lehtonen , Head of Diagnostics at HUS, consider Marin's target to be achievable.
 "The target is, of course, as high as possible. It's an ambitious but achievable target, given that well over 60 percent of people over 16 have already received the vaccine," Rämet said.
 HUS' Lehtonen told the paper that Marin's aims were similar to his own.
 "I have said at least 85 percent. 80 percent is the lower limit. A month ago, European researchers published an estimate in the Lancet [medical] journal, which considered 80 percent to be the minimum target. In that sense, the Prime Minister's comment is in line with the medical community," he said.
 _ Yle's weekly newsletter is back from the summer break. Sign up  here  to receive a selection of the week's top stories! _
 Can Finland become a battery superpower?
 National daily  Helsingin Sanomat's economics section  focuses on batteries this Friday. A new deal announced this week will see Norwegian battery company Freyr build a new plant in the west-coast city of Vaasa.
 Giga-Vaasa is the name given to the city's drive to become a hub for battery production Vaasan kaupunki
 "The global race for battery manufacturing is accelerating, and Finland is a strong contender," the paper writes.
 "Finland processes around 10 percent of the world's cobalt and nearly five percent of nickel," the paper notes. Both elements are key ingredients in the kinds of batteries that power larger items like cars.
 "I wouldn't call it a superpower yet,"  Pertti Kauranen , Professor of Energy Storage at LUT University told HS.
 "Finland is a unique country in Europe in that such a domestic value chain is possible at all," he added.
 According to HS, the new plant is big news because, when complete, it will mark the first time the raw materials for batteries will be mined, processed and made into finished products domestically.
 How can Finland help stop global warming?
 That's what  Jyväskylä-based Keskisuomalainen  asked  Janne Kotiaho , Professor of Ecology at the University of Jyväskylä and Chairman of the Finnish Nature Panel after this week's  IPCC climate report .
 Kontiaho suggested five changes that people and municipalities in Central Finland can make.
 Cutting back on extracting and burning peat will be crucial, Kotiaho told the paper Ville Honkonen
 First, Keskisuomalainen writes, is cutting back on eating meat.
 "Public canteens should switch to a plant-based diet," Kontiaho told the paper, noting that a vegetarian diet has about a quarter the adverse climate impact of its beef-based counterpart.
 Second, the paper writes, is building towns and cities that encourage walking and cycling.
 "Zoning can be used to allocate building sites in a way that minimises emissions and harm to nature," Kotiaho said.
 Third, stop burning peat. For Central Finland, abandoning peat burning and peat production would be the most important step to take, the paper writes, with Kotiaho adding that municipal energy companies must stop burning peat as a matter of urgency.
 Fourth, make Lake Päijänne a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
 Biosphere reserves are model areas for sustainable development that promote sustainable use of natural resources, Keskisuomalainen explains.
 According to Kotiaho, the status would also create new business opportunities for agriculture, forestry and tourism in the region.
 And fifth, Kotiaho recommends replacing natural gas with biogas, often made from waste and plant products.
 Some progress has already been made: Keskisuomalainen notes that biogas buses are already in operation in Jyväskylä.

Friday's papers: Marin's vaccine goals, battery superpower, 5 ways to beat climate change


Summary: More than 200 Thai berry pickers in Finland have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the beginning of this month.

Thailand has demanded an explanation from Finnish authorities regarding a series of Covid outbreaks among Thai nationals working as berry pickers in Finland this summer.
 More than 200 of the workers have been diagnosed with Covid since the beginning of August.
 On Tuesday,  it was reported  that berry companies Arctic International and Polarica transported at least 260 foreign berry pickers from Lapland to eastern Finland even though most of them were infected by or exposed to coronavirus.
 In response to the ongoing situation, Thailand's Ambassador to Finland,  Chavanart Thangsumphant , said that the berry picking firms which hired Thai migrant workers signed an agreement that they would protect their health amid the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.
 "We are now waiting for authorities to find out whether the companies fully and properly complied with the agreement's conditions or not," Thangsumphant said.
 The  terms of the agreement  oblige the berry companies to take care of temporary workers, as well as provide appropriate treatment and compensation if they do get Covid. The terms also spell out conditions regarding employers' obligations to provide health insurance, accommodation and transportation.
 The agreement also stipulates that workers need to be paid compensation if they are ordered into quarantine and obliges firms to pay out compensation if the worker dies of the disease while in Finland.
 According to the contract, companies are compelled to pay the equivalent of roughly 25,500 euros to a worker's family in the event of their Covid-related death.
 Freelancers vs employees
 Thangsumphant said Thailand hopes Finnish berry companies would recognise their hired pickers as employees, thus granting them rights in line with local employment laws.
 "In this way, pickers could be guaranteed fair and equal rights to, among other things, well-being and health, similar to the rights that Finnish workers have," Thangsumphant said.
 The ambassador also said Thailand wants to expedite the exchange of information with Finnish authorities in cases where the Thai workers are faced with problems with their health or working conditions. Thangsumphant said the embassy hopes that the Finnish foreign ministry will take swift action.
 Thangsumphant noted that Thailand has been in contact with Finnish authorities since the berry pickers' first Covid infections were detected. The embassy has requested that Finnish authorities investigate the workers' residential quarters to discover the reason for the infection outbreaks.
 The ambassador said she believes the authorities in Finland were doing their best to protect the berry pickers. She noted that in her opinion, providing the safeguards is required by  Finnish law  aiming to prevent the exploitation of foreign labourers.
 Rules and regulations
 Some of the coronavirus outbreaks took place in Lapland, and the region's State Administrative Agency (Avi) plans to investigate safety-related measures carried out at berry picking outfits, according to the agency's local chief physician,  Sari Kemppainen .
 She said that the Avi was under the impression that the berry companies had jointly planned with the Lapland Hospital District about how to handle the workers once they arrived in the country.
 "Those kinds of guidelines were prepared and issued by the THL (the Institute for Health and Welfare) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The responsibility for carrying out the guidelines belongs to the berry companies," Kemppainen explained.
 Employment ministry government advisor  Olli Sorainen  said that the instructions given to berry companies were clear, adding that the firms were also responsible for ensuring the pickers' accommodations were safe and up to regulatory standards.
 Sorainen said Finland should consider whether to amend those types of regulations in order to ensure the health and safety of workers.
 "A separate project is set to be launched in the autumn regarding the authorities' supervision of foreign workers' conditions, as well as possible sanctions that could be imposed for non-compliance," Sorainen said.
 THL Senior Expert  Jari Jalava  said that laws should address the conditions under which workers are brought to the country. Health authorities are unable to intervene and the Communicable Diseases act does not address the matter.
 Coronavirus infection clusters began to spread rapidly among berry pickers at the beginning of this month, despite the fact that the workers were tested when they arrived in Finland.
 Earlier this week, chief infectious diseases doctor of the Lapland Hospital District,  Markku Broas , noted that quarantine rules and the Communicable Diseases Act were violated during the transfer of ill workers to Kainuu and North Karelia.
 Broas said that he suspected the root cause of the infection clusters were due to Covid tests being taken as the workers arrived in Finland. The tests did not immediately identify emerging infections, which resulted in a rapid spread of the virus among densely populated groups.

Thailand demands Finland to explain berry pickers' Covid outbreaks


Summary: The city's first tram system started running on Monday. The group behind the project said it came in €34 million under budget.

Tampere's new tram system started operating this week, and operators had good news for taxpayers: the project is currently more than 10 percent under budget.
 According to currentcost forecasts the building project, which began in 2017, undershot its original cost estimate of around €300 million by around €34 million. Builders also finished the light rail network ahead of schedule.
 According to  Pekka Sirviö , Managing Director of tram construction alliance Tampere Tramway, even the weather helped the tram come in under budget.
 "The weather has certainly been in our favour, as we were able to extend the construction season, which has meant that the works were completed more quickly. We were also able to carry out the planned winter work more cheaply because the ground hadn't frozen and we could work without tents," he said.
 Sirviö said the alliance also managed to make savings on materials through flexible procurement and tendering processes. During the construction project some working practices were adapted from the original plan.
 "In the case of the supporting structures, i.e. bridges and retaining walls, solutions were found that resulted in savings," he said.
 Final total still to come
 While Tampere Tramway has announced the estimated cost saving of €34 million, the final total cost of building the city's tramway may not be known for another five years.
 "Some of the work is still in progress and the final sums will only be known after the guarantee period ends in five years," Tampere's director of urban environment Mikko Nurminen said.
 Tampere Tramway boss Sirviö confirmed that the final amount saved would only be known then.
 "Of course, the saving is already a reality, we have not spent all the money earmarked for the investment," he added.

Tampere tram project comes in under budget


Summary: Helsingin Sanomat reports that Vaasa MP Mauri Peltokangas is facing hate charges over a Facebook post

Finns Party MP  Mauri Peltokangas  has been charged with incitement against a group of people, according to national daily  Helsingin Sanomat  (link in Finnish).
 Vaasa MP Peltokangas told HS that he did not want to comment further on the charge at this stage of the proceedings.
 The case is based on "a year-old Facebook post," Peltokangas said. He denies all charges.
 Mauri Peltokangas was elected an MP in the last parliamentary election in 2019. He was the Finns Party's front-runner in the Vaasa constituency receiving over 13 000 votes.
 This year's municipal elections saw Peltokangas elected to Kokkola's municipal council. He was the council's top vote winner, as the Finns won four additional seats in the municipality.
 Last year Peltokangas caused a stir with a Facebook comment in which he branded ministers in Prime Minister  Sanna Marin 's (SDP) government "pathetic assholes".

HS: Finns Party MP charged with incitement offence


Summary: The three defendants in the killing of a 16-year-old last December were found to be of sound mind, Helsinki District Court heard

Three teenagers facing murder and several other charges were found to be criminally responsible for killing a 16-year-old boy in Helsinki's Koskela district last December, according to court-ordered psychiatric evaluations of the young defendants.
 According to prosecutors, the teens lured the victim to the Koskela Hospital area on 4 December 2020 in order to subject him to a violent attack. The defendants were also 16-years-old at the time of the brutal and deadly assault.
 A statement by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) to Helsinki District Court issued on Friday said a psychological evaluation had found the defendants were of sound mind and therefore criminally responsible on the night of the killing. This means the suspects could now face sentencing.
 All three suspects received psychological evaluations at separate facilities over the course of the spring and summer.
 The final verdict in the long-running case will be delivered on Friday 3 September at 14:00, the court announced on Friday.
 Legal arguments
 In court, lawyer  Janne Nuutinen , representing the victim's family, said the psychiatric examination confirmed that the killing was intentional.
 Lawyers representing the accused argued that the publicity the case had attracted brought with it adverse effects that should reduce any eventual sentence.
 Although the names of the underaged defendants have not been reported in the mainstream media, they have been circulated on social media. Two threatening letters have been sent to one of the defendants in prison.
 The lawyer representing the youngest of the three told the court that despite the conclusion of the THL report, their client may have been of diminished responsibility at the time of the killing.
 'Extensive and brutal' violence
 On Friday, 4 December, the victim was subjected to a brutal, cruel, and humiliating ordeal for several hours,  prosecutors said in March .
 The perpetrators eventually left the victim lying on the ground at the scene, where his body was discovered by construction workers three days later.
 Police uncovered evidence during the pre-trial investigation that the victim had been assaulted at the same location on each of the three previous Friday evenings.
 Other details regarding the defendants' psychological evaluations were not made public. However, the process involved looking at whether the accused had fully understood the consequences of their actions when they carried them out.
 If the three defendants had been found to have acted with diminished responsibility, any prison sentence handed down could have been reduced by up to a quarter.
 Prosecutors have demanded 12, 11, and 9.5 years prison sentences for each of the three on the charges of murder as well as for the prior assaults and related charges.
 All three of the defendants have denied the intentional manslaughter charges, but two admitted being guilty of aggravated assault and aggravated involuntary manslaughter and the third suspect admitted to assault in the attack.

Koskela killing psych evaluation finds suspects criminally responsible


Summary: Kulmuni quit as Finance Minister after it emerged she had received media training paid for by the state.

Prosecutors have brought charges of fraud and malfeasance in a public office against a former adviser to  Katri Kulmuni  (Cen), who served as Finance Minister for six months up to June 2020.
 The case is linked to media training Kulmuni received during her time as a minister.
 According to the prosecutor, the special adviser had mistakenly or deliberately used their position to invoice the Finance Ministry for training to the value of around 13,700 euros.
 The adviser had therefore breached rules governing officials' actions and, as an official, breached their official duties.
 The adviser has denied all charges. According to the prosecutor, no other witnesses have been interviewed besides the suspect, who the prosecutor declined to name.
 Kulmuni had several advisers, and it has been reported that the person responsible for the training was  Kari Jääskeläinen , but he declined to comment to Yle.
 Kulmuni received the training in 2019 and 2020 from the consultancy firm Tekir. It was unclear at first who paid for the training, and whether the training was related to her role as a minister or her political role as leader of the Centre Party.
 Kulmuni resigned as Finance Minister soon after the news broke, and was replaced as Centre Party leader in September 2020 after a year in charge, when she lost an internal party election to  Annika Saarikko .

Former Centre leader Kulmuni's adviser charged with fraud


Summary: The contents of the grave in southwest Finland have sparked debate for decades. Now DNA analysis has thrown a new option into the mix.

A 1,000-year-old grave unearthed in the late 1960s may upend long-held ideas around gender roles during the Iron Age, according to a  new study  by Finnish researchers.
 The grave in Suontaka, southwest Finland, was discovered during building work in 1968. It contained the remains of an individual who had been buried with at least one sword, commonly thought of as a conventionally masculine accessory, but who was wearing feminine clothes and jewellery.
 In the past, researchers argued that the Suontaka grave had been a double burial of a man and a woman, or that it had been the resting place of a female warrior - indicating that late Iron Age Finland had been home to strong female leaders.
 But a new DNA analysis has challenged both those theories, finding evidence to suggest that the grave contained the remains of just one person who may have had an extra X chromosome, a genetic condition which can cause people to develop both 'typically' male and female physical attributes.
 Story continues after image.
 A diagram of the discovery on the left with an artist's impression of the find, right Ulla Moilanen & Veronika Paschenko.
 "Our DNA analysis suggests that the individual may have had an aneuploid male karyotype XXY (Klinefelter syndrome). These new research results indicate that even in early medieval Finland, which is often considered a masculine and warlike society, there may have been individuals who did not fit into a binary gender model," the researchers wrote.
 A 'highly respected' non-binary individual
 Klinefelter syndrome affects around 1 in 660 males, although many will never be aware of their extra chromosome as the symptoms will be mild or unnoticeable.
 "Although a person with XXY chromosomes is usually anatomically a male, the syndrome may also cause e.g. breast growth, diminished muscle mass, or infertility," the researchers said.
 The researchers emphasised that while their conclusion was based on a small sample of damaged DNA, the high status burial and goods discovered in and near the grave backed up their case.
 Jewellery and a sickle were buried along with the individual Ulla Moilanen
 "The buried individual seems to have been a highly respected member of their community. They had been laid in the grave on a soft feather blanket with valuable furs and objects," said lead author  Ulla Moilanen  from the University of Turku.
 According to Moilanen, the person buried in Suontaka may have had a non-binary gender identity, a finding that suggests a nuanced approach to gender identity in Iron Age Finnish society.
 "If the characteristics of the Klinefelter syndrome have been evident on the person, they might not have been considered strictly a female or a male in the Early Middle Ages community. The abundant collection of objects buried in the grave is proof that the person was not only accepted but also valued and respected." Moilanen said.
 "However, biology does not directly dictate a person’s self-identity," she added.
 While it's not possible to tell for certain, the researchers speculated that the Suontaka individual's traditionally feminine clothing could indicate some symptoms of Klinefelter syndrome were present. These can include infertility in males, which would have set them apart in a society where masculinity was often defined by fathering children, the researchers wrote.
 "Pubertal changes—or the lack of them—could have led the individual being associated with a non-binary gender role," they wrote, while noting that "chromosomes do not define gender identities".
 According to the researchers, the findings of the Suontaka burial could indicate that Iron Age societies did not always conform to rigid gender norms.
 The initial discovery of the sword led to the grave being uncovered in 1968 Museovirasto
 It's possible that the individual in the grave was accepted as non-binary due to some higher social status - perhaps coming from a wealthy family - that granted them "more freedom and possibilities in expressing individual gender identities," the researchers wrote.
 A bronze-hilted sword, now in the collection of the National Museum of Finland, that was found at the gravesite was probably put there later, the researchers found, again showing that the individual may have been held in high esteem for years after their death.
 "The later addition of a spectacular sword in the grave possibly highlights the importance of the individual in the memory of the succeeding generation," they wrote.

1,000 year old grave contained non-binary Iron Age leader, researchers suggest


Summary: The 2022 budget has a deficit of 6.7 billion euros and does not include proposals to raise income taxes.

Finland's Finance Ministry has finalised its proposal for state spending in 2022, ahead of talks between coalition parties on the details of  the package .
 The final version is due to be agreed in late September, with  several rounds of negotiation to complete before then .
 The Ministry's proposal, which was published on Friday, includes hikes in tobacco taxes, increased tax deductions for domestic work, reduced tax breaks for diesel purchases, extra help for peat producers and more money for education.
 If the proposal goes through tax deductions for household expenses, which can be cleaning, child care or other work done in the home, will rise from 2,250 euros to 3,500 euros. 60 percent of the costs will be eligible for a deduction, up from 40 percent.
 The goal of the deduction is to promote service industry businesses and encourage users of those services to ask for a receipt and ensure taxes are paid on those transactions.
 Story continues after graphic

 Finance Minister  Annika Saariko's  (Cen) proposal includes a family leave reform to come into force from 1 August 2022, which will increase spending on paternal leave for fathers to stay home with their kids.
 There is also some 65 million euros in funding set aside for the expansion of compulsory education and the decision to make secondary education entirely free of charge.
 There are no income tax increases in the ministry's proposal, which has a deficit of some 6.7 billion euros. Economic growth is expected to run at 1-1.5 percent in 2022, according to the ministry.
 Talks between Saarikko and individual ministers will now follow as the government thrashes out the details, followed by broader discussions between government parties and a final budget in late September.
 The Greens and the Left Alliance have demanded additional measures to combat climate change, with Saarikko's Centre Party likely to oppose some of their requests.

Finance Ministry publishes budget proposal


Summary: Lapland's chief infectious diseases doctor says this is the worst case of non-compliance with quarantine regulations he has seen during the pandemic.

Berry picking companies Arctic International and Polarica have moved at least 260 foreign berry pickers from Lapland to eastern Finland even though most of them have been infected by or exposed to the coronavirus, said the Lapland Hospital District.
 In Rovaniemi, up to 70 percent of foreign berry pickers have been infected with Covid-19. On Friday, the city ordered the companies to isolate harvesters who had fallen ill and to place those exposed under quarantine.
 According to  Markku Broas , chief infectious diseases doctor of the Lapland Hospital District, quarantine rules and the Communicable Diseases Act were violated during the transfer to Kainuu and North Karelia.
 According to Broas, he has not encountered such a large-scale non-compliance with quarantine regulations throughout the entire coronavirus pandemic.
 "Health safety is now at stake here. There is a high risk that the disease will continue to spread within the group and beyond," he told Yle on Monday.
 Article continues after photo
 Markku Broas, chief infectious diseases doctor of the Lapland Hospital District (file photo). Mikko Koski / Yle
 He is concerned that sick and exposed berry pickers will continue to work.
 Authorities unaware
 On Friday, berry companies received orders on how to handle the isolation and quarantine of berry pickers infected with and exposed to the virus. The city of Rovaniemi arranged appropriate facilities for the affected berry pickers.
 Under the Communicable Diseases Act, quarantine must be carried out in one's own home or in another place approved or designated by authorities.
 The city of Rovaniemi did not know about the transfer in advance – and nor did North Karelia's joint municipal authority for social and health services (Siun sote).
 "On a general level, I would say that quarantine regulations are the same everywhere and that criminal complaints can be filed if they are violated," said the region's chief infectious disease doctor,  Jennifer Sieberns .
 Broas said the Communicable Diseases Act is unambiguous, and that quarantine and isolation orders are official regulations.
 "Municipal infectious disease authorities are responsible for their implementation, including monitoring and directing compliance with quarantine and isolation rules," Broas said.

Berry companies moved workers around Finland, though many infected or exposed


Summary: The owner of the Kärkkäinen department store chain sent an anti-vaccine message to employees, calling on them not to get vaccinated.

Juha Kärkkäinen , owner of the Kärkkäinen chain of department stores, has called on the company's employees not to take the coronavirus vaccine.
 "I urged them to watch the videos and links and to refuse the jab," Kärkkäinen confirmed to Yle on Thursday.
 Kärkkäinen's message to employees was sent through the company's internal communication system, tabloid Iltalehti reported, in which he claimed that Covid vaccines are dangerous and lead to harmful side effects.
 The Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea said that it had received about 11,000 reports of side effects related to coronavirus vaccines by last week, by which time over six million doses of the vaccine had been administered across the country.
 Labour Law Professor  Seppo Koskinen  told Yle that the law does not expressly forbid an employer from disseminating anti-vaccine information to employees, as long as the employer does not urge anyone to commit an illegal act.
 "The employer also has freedom of speech. However, I do not recommend any employer to act like Kärkkäinen," Koskinen said.
 Employer's obligation to provide a safe working environment
 Although there is no provision in Finnish law preventing an employer from spreading anti-vaccine information within the company, doing so is a violation of the employer's responsibility to employees, according to  Erika Kähärä  of services workers' union PAM.
 "The employer has a responsibility for occupational safety and health. It is against the spirit of the employer's obligation to even call for the vaccine not to be taken," Kähärä said.
 In practice, this responsibility for safety means that the employer must assess risks to employees, such as that posed by a possible coronavirus infection. If the worker is considered to be at-risk, their tasks and duties could be altered, Koskinen cites as an example.
 Kärkkäinen told Yle that he does not know the vaccination situation of all of his employees, but the department stores do have similar precautions in place as in other stores, such as hand disinfectant stations at entry points.
 "We do not put pressure on people about vaccines or masks," he said.
 Call for more guidance from authorities
 Koskinen advised Kärkkäinen to review issues related to health, safety and vaccinations with an external party, such as an occupational health specialist.
 "In my opinion, the situations related to coronavirus are such that the employer should consult an expert if their own knowledge of the subject is not enough," Koskinen said, an opinion echoed by PAM specialist Kähärä.
 Koskinen also called for more guidance to be provided by authorities, such as from the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman, which could advise on the processing of personal data within the workplace, for example in relation to health or vaccination information.
 "Here, guidelines should be drawn up for employers on what to ask about taking the vaccine and what to not ask. This way, employers would not have to settle things in their own way," Koskinen said.
 Far-right links, anti-semitic views
 However, Kärkkäinen told Yle that, in his view, he is protecting his employees by providing them with the anti-vaccine information.
 "I am so socially responsible that I call for more research into this matter and for consideration to also be given to taking the vaccine," Kärkkäinen said.
 The retail magnate has  previously made headlines  because of his strong links to far-right groups, the publishing of  anti-semitic texts  in freesheet newspapers and a conviction for agitation against an ethnic group.

Union criticises retail chain owner for urging employees to refuse Covid vaccine