Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said on Tuesday that the country has had to shell out was total of about 10 million euros (11.66 million U.S. dollars) towards the organization of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Monday, Helsinki in Finland was the place where the two global leaders participated in a lengthy bilateral talk and addressed a joint press conference following the meeting. Despite the high costs that Finland has had to incur, the country’s prime minister told news service Uutissumalainen that the spending was "worth it".
The respective ministries and the presidential office initially had borne the costs of the summit meeting while the government has said that if it was felt necessary, it would submit a supplementary budget for the expenses.
Close to one and a half million was spent by the foreign ministry. The free food that was given to the journalists and media people at the media center opened for the summit cost a "six-digit-figure", said head of press services Vesa Hakkinen to Uutissuomalainen.
Many journalists were reportedly amazed by the quality and abundance of the food that was offered at Finlandia Hall buffets. An international defense writer told the media that he "had to queue up to get coffee and bread" at the NATO summit last week while comparing the hospitality of hosts.
"The memory of the quality care given to journalists may linger longer in the minds of the writers than the substance of the summit", noted an editorial in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. On Sunday night when the final of FIFA world cup 2018 was shown on the screens in the media center, the journalists present there were even served alcohol free of costs.
Expenses to wards making arrangements for security services made up the bulk of the expended ten million euros. According to Finnish contract laws, compensations for overtimes is high and the employers also have to pay hefty amounts as penalties when they have to make changes in the fixed working schedules of employees.
But the costs of booking hotels and renting equipment or services were borne by the visitors themselves. As soon as the summit between the two leaders was announced to be held in Helsinki, the room rents in local hotels skyrocketed but they later came down within manageable limits later. Local media noted that those visitors who waited till the last moment to book their accommodation benefitted from the fall in prices compared to those who had booked early.
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)
On Monday, Helsinki in Finland was the place where the two global leaders participated in a lengthy bilateral talk and addressed a joint press conference following the meeting. Despite the high costs that Finland has had to incur, the country’s prime minister told news service Uutissumalainen that the spending was "worth it".
The respective ministries and the presidential office initially had borne the costs of the summit meeting while the government has said that if it was felt necessary, it would submit a supplementary budget for the expenses.
Close to one and a half million was spent by the foreign ministry. The free food that was given to the journalists and media people at the media center opened for the summit cost a "six-digit-figure", said head of press services Vesa Hakkinen to Uutissuomalainen.
Many journalists were reportedly amazed by the quality and abundance of the food that was offered at Finlandia Hall buffets. An international defense writer told the media that he "had to queue up to get coffee and bread" at the NATO summit last week while comparing the hospitality of hosts.
"The memory of the quality care given to journalists may linger longer in the minds of the writers than the substance of the summit", noted an editorial in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. On Sunday night when the final of FIFA world cup 2018 was shown on the screens in the media center, the journalists present there were even served alcohol free of costs.
Expenses to wards making arrangements for security services made up the bulk of the expended ten million euros. According to Finnish contract laws, compensations for overtimes is high and the employers also have to pay hefty amounts as penalties when they have to make changes in the fixed working schedules of employees.
But the costs of booking hotels and renting equipment or services were borne by the visitors themselves. As soon as the summit between the two leaders was announced to be held in Helsinki, the room rents in local hotels skyrocketed but they later came down within manageable limits later. Local media noted that those visitors who waited till the last moment to book their accommodation benefitted from the fall in prices compared to those who had booked early.
(Source:www.xinhuanet.com)
