Barents Steel Meets the Oil
Funded by Euregio Karelia Neighbourhood Programme 2001-2006

Objective of the project

The goal of the project was to obtain information regarding near-term projects related to the construction of oil and natural gas fields in the Barents region and to make Finnish and Russian metal industry companies familiar with the new opportunities.

Main activities

• Arrangement of the Snövit-seminar • Information gathering, e.g. composing an analysis regarding the competitiveness of the mechanical engineering industry in northern Finland and the state of readiness in terms of participating in the implementation of projects • Contact-making, • Elaboration of reports on how companies would be able to participate in competitive bidding for projects, • Preparing of marketing material for the participating companies.

Achievements

The project started with an international Snövit-seminar held in Oulu. The most significant achievements of the seminar were creating the understanding of the scope and size of the natural gas and oil projects in the Barents region and receiving the latest information about the Snövit project phase, the schedule of the Murmansk oil harbour and the other projects in the northern region. The main learning experience from the Snövit project was that the business culture in Finland tends to be too small, which hinders possible participation in large projects. Therefore, cooperation and an active approach are needed. In the end, the mechanical engineering team in the project was able to participate in competitive bidding processes and some business transactions were also realised. In order to ensure successful operations in the future, the participating mechanical engineering shops have founded a shared marketing company, Oy SteelDoneGroup Ltd. In 2006, the recently established company got their first commission from an affiliated company of Gazprom, Gazflot. The group’s website is located at www.steeldone.com.