SAIMAA CANAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01019A000400140001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 26, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 1, 1966
• Content Type: BRIEF

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CIA/BI GB 66-22
March 1966-
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
Office of Basic :Intelligence
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This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GR?UP 1
EXCLUDED FROM AUTOMATIC DOWNGRADING
AND DECLASSIFICATION
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SAIMAA CANAL
Finland is at the approximate midpoint of a 5-year program for re-
storing and improving the long-defunct Saimaa Canal connecting the Saimaa
lake system of southeastern Finland with the Baltic Sea via Soviet ter-
ritory. Although the economics of restoring the Saimaa Canal are ques-
tionable, the project has an emotional appeal to many Finns as a first
step toward the return of territory lost during World War II. President
Kekkonen of Finland attaches importance to the Saimaa Canal as an indi-
cation of the viability of Finnish-Soviet friendship and as evidence of
the success of his policies. Completion of the project now seems virtu-
ally certain despite controversy that attends it.
Background
First opened in 1856, the Saimaa Canal extends 36 miles from a point
near Lappeenranta on the southern shore of Lake Saimaa to Vyborg (Viipuri)
on the Gulf of Finland. The original canal had a depth of about 8 feet
and required 28 small locks to raise and lower ships the 250 feet between
sea level and the level of Lake Saimaa. Over a million tons of cargo,
mostly wood and wood products, moved along the canal yearly in the 1920's.
The enlargement and deepening that started in 1927 were still under way
when World War IT forced discontinuance. Among other things that Finland
lost as a result of the war were 1) the northern section of the Karelian
Isthmus, 2) its second most populous city, Viipuri (now Vyborg), and
3) 15 miles of the Saimaa Canal. The canal was heavily damaged during
World War TI and has been out of operation since 19+4.
Protracted Rosso-Finnish bargaining over a period of years led, in
1962, to a treaty under which Finland leased the Soviet part of the
Saimaa Canal and agreed to restore it, The 1962 treaty was ratified by
Finland on 17 May 1963 and by the USSR on 23 July 1963. Noteworthy
provisions of the treaty are given below. The USSR leases to Finland
for 50 years 1) land to an average width of 98 feet (30 meters) on both
sides of the canal and 2) Ma1yy Vysotskiy Island (8 miles southwest of
Vyborg), the island to be used for the reloading and storage of goads.
Finland is to expand the canal and construct necessary facilities within
5 years, The entire length of the canal is to be open to Finnish, Soviet,
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and third-nation vessels. Finnish and third-nation vessels are to pay
fees to Finland for transit through the entire canal; Soviet vessels are
to pay fees to Finland only for transit through the area under full
Finnish sovereignty. Finnish and third-nation commercial vessels will
be allowed to use~~ the leased area. No military vessels or arms will
be allowed. Finland is to pay the USSR 320,000 rubles a year during the
5-year construction period. The USSR has the right to refuse entry to
third-nation vessels when not in keeping with Soviet security interests.
If Finnish and Soviet field representatives cannot agree, problems will
be turned over to a mixed commission; if members of the mixed commission
can~.ot agree, matters at issue will be resolved thro?th diplomatic chan-
nels. Legal authority in the leased area is to rema:_? in Soviet hands
and Soviet law is to be enforced with the provision that Finnish nation-
als and the nationals of third nations will be turned over to Finnish
courts for trial if the case does not involve Soviet interests.
A followup protocol signed on 6 April 1865 provided for the appoint-
ment of five Finnish law enforcement officers to police the leased area
in cooperation with Soviet authorities. The Finnish officials are to
have credentials but no uniforms. This arrangement caused some dis-
satisfaction in Finland, where it was thought that five law enforcement
officers were too few to guarantee the safety of Finnish and third-
country citizens in the leased area.
Improvements under way will give the Saimaa Canal a controlling
depth of 14 feet. Sections of the route are being widened and straight-
ened, Locks will. be enlarged and their number reduced to eight, of which
five will be in the leased area and three in Finnish territory. The
renovated canal is expected to accommodate Baltic coastal vessels of
over 1,000 deadweight tons and thus obviate transshipment of cargo between
southeastern Finland and Baltic ports. The navigation season of the old
~ The main area leased to Finland ends some 7 miles north of Vyborg
(see map). The USSR therefore retains absolute control of through
traffic. Ships plying the remodeled canal between the high seas aid
Lake Saimaa will actually traverse areas under four different types
of political status: 1) territorial waters of the USSR, 2) inland
waters of the USSR -- full Soviet sovereignty, 3) the area leased by
Finland from the USSR, and ~+) inland waters of Finland -- full Finnish
sovereignty,
~ Presumably, use of the leased area will provide for short tieups
for cargo shifting, minor repairs, and similar tasks.
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canal averaged 191 days a year; it is expected, however, that with modern
steel vessels the navigation season of the remodeled waterway will be
somewhat longer.
The Finns have agreed to dredge the sea approaches to the canal's
southern entrance at Vyborg. It will also be necessary for Finland to
renew and build ships suitable for canal traffic and to improve channels
and ports of the Saimaa lake system. Important bridges over the canal
right-of--way at Vyborg will be built by the USSR at Finland's expense.
The 5 -year period allowed for renovation began officially with the
exchange of ratification documents in Helsinki on 27 August 1963. Work
in the leased area started in 196+ with the construction of camps and
access roads. Reconstruction of the canal as a whole is now believed
to be about ~+5 percent complete, Original cost estimates called for
expenditures of X58 million on redevelopment. There have been indica-
tions, however, that expenditures are running ahead of estimates and
that construction is slightly behind schedule.
Problems and Prospects
Before the canal agreement was signed there was much discussion in
Finland about the merits of restoring the waterway. Canal adversaries
claimed that investment in alternative means of transportation (roads
and railroads) would be better for Finland because these could be used
all year, whereas the canal navigation season will not be much longer
than 200 days a year. Opponents of the restoration pointed out that
roads and railroads, unlike the canal, would be entirely under Finnish
control. They also contended that expansion of wood-processing indus-
tries has greatly reduced the need for transporting undressed wood, the
main cargo of the prewar canal. On the other hand, spokesmen for the
Saimaa lake ports and other communities in southeastern Finland favored
canal redevelopment and expected it to improve economic conditions in
the area. Considered broadly, restoration of the Saimaa Canal does not
appear to be a promising project for Finland on economic grounds.
Why did the Finns agree to renovate the canal on terms that have
them paying virtually all costs while leaving control in Soviet hands?
The answer is Karelia. The Finnish .Government originally hoped for a
canal accord that would include restoration of Finnish sovereignty to
some part of the former Finnish territory along the canal -- possibly
the area bounded by the canal in the northeast, the sea to the south,
and the present Finland - USSR boundary in the northwest. As matters
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worked out, Finland was offered only a lease arrangement in which a
diluted form of Finnish control was limited to a narrow belt along the
canal right-of-way. The Finns probably thought, however, that they
could not reject the arrangement without closing the door on their hopes
for recovering some part of Karelia.
The return of even a small part of Karelia would have a powerful
appeal for all Finns and, after restoring the canal on unfavorable terms,
the Finns may come to feel that some such Soviet action is overdue, Even
if the USSR should ultimately grant a modest territorial concession, con-
trol of the canal will, very likely, be retained in Soviet hands. The
Soviets will remain in a position to encourage or discourage use of the
waterway by third-nation vessels, They may also, if they choose, make
full use of the commercial advantages the canal accord gives the USSR
for trade and travel to the interior of Finland. Just how the Soviets
will exploit their opportunities still causes some concern in Finland.
Leaders of the Finnish Seamen's Union, for example, fear that their
members may be harassed in the leased area; and -they have gone so far
as to suggest that the union may boycott the canal if measures for the
protection of Finnish ship crews do not meet with their satisfaction.
Proponents of the canal renovation scheme brush doubts aside and point
out that the USSR places much value on good relations with Finland as
an example of peaceful coexistence. Nevertheless, some Finns still feel
that too many Finnish eggs have been too hurriedly and too hopefully
placed in a frail basket.
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SAIMAA CANAL
-- Gnatl channel
Limit of leased area
/~ New lock
-- Road
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