Big Deal

At a lavish caviar & champagne banquet, attended by all the top Soviet brass, Moscow last week honored visiting Finnish Premier Urho Kekkonen. The Premier had earned his fine meal. He had just signed a five-year trade treaty that is designed to shackle stubborn little Finland's economy to Russia for good. Under the new treaty, nearly all of Finland's foreign trade will be geared to Russia: machinery, ships, lumber products and prefabricated houses in return for Soviet grain, fertilizers, raw materials and oil. Finnish sales to Russia will increase each year, making Finland ever more dependent on Soviet markets.

After returning to Helsinki in a special Russian plane, Premier Kekkonen proudly termed the $350-million treaty the biggest deal ever made by Finland. It would in all likelihood also be the costliest.

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