Estonian company contracted for road maintenance in Finland

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The City of Kankaanpää and the Municipality of Veteli in the west of Finland, have hired an Estonian contractor to maintain roads in the communities. This is the first time that a foreign company has been given responsibility for road maintenance in Finland.
      In Kankaanpää the company will be responsible for the upkeep of 800 kilometres of roads, and in Veteli, about 700 kilometres.
     
The winning bids were made by an organisation that learned the ropes with the help of the Finnish Road Administration; in earlier years Finland has provided Estonia aid in developing its road administration and traffic safety systems.
      The Estonian company, AS Teho, was built on the foundation of a previous Estonian municipal organisation which was responsible for part of the sanitation services of the City of Tallinn. At that time, Estonia received donations of used road maintenance equipment from Finland.
      AS Teho is now an Estonian family enterprise. According to one of its owners, Heikki Anipai, the company has ordered new vehicles and equipment for the Finnish contract; the finishing touches are being put on them at the Sisu factory in Finland. None of the old donated equipment will be used for Finnish road maintenance.
     
The company hopes to expand its Finnish operations further. In addition to Kankaanpää and Veteli, the company hopes to win two more regional contracts.
      The company is able to keep its own costs down because of a light organisation. Project chiefs will be the highest-ranking company representatives in Finland.
      AS Teho has hired Finnish project chiefs for the contract, which begins in October, and will employ many of the same subcontractors that the Finnish Road Enterprise once did. Anipai says that about 30 Finns will be working for the company.
     
Pentti Raekallio, the Finnish Road Administration regional head of maintenance in the Pori and Kankaanpää regions, was surprised when the Estonian bid won for the contract.
      The prospect of an Estonian company maintaining roads in the area has raised a good deal of curious discussion at the Finnish Road Administration and the Finnish Road Enterprise. Raekallio understands the curiosity.
      "For decades, Finns have been businessmen in Estonia, and employees have been hired from there to Finland. We are used to being the managers and bosses. Now the setup is turning upside-down... Prejudices are so strong that many were unwilling to take jobs with the company."


Links:
  Finnish Road Administration
  Finnish Road Enterprise

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