Conurbations 

• Imatra municipality

• Svetogorsk municipality

Number of inhabitants:

Approximately 45,000 inhabitants, 30,000 of whom on the Finnish side.

Historical and geographical background

Up to 1939, the town of Svetogorsk was Finnish. It was only after the treaty of Moscow signed in 1940 that the town of Svetogorsk became Russian.
Imatra and Svetogorsk, at a distance of 7 km from each other and situated along the river Vuoksi, do not form a continuous cross-border conurbation. However, they have fairly similar economic profiles and are historically linked to the production of paper pulp.
In 2002, Imatra and Svetogorsk became the only single border point between the European Union and Russia to have road and rail passage. It is also the Finno-Russian border area with the biggest economic and social difference. The local cross-border flows, albeit not daily, are basically of a commercial and professional nature.

 Background to the move to cross-border cooperation

In the early 1990's, action carried out in the area of cooperation began spontaneously between different Finnish and Russian economic actors. In spite of the signing of an agreement between the two municipalities in 1992, cross-border cooperation only really started in 1996. The first joint action was aimed at making it easier for cross-border workers living in Imatra to reach Svetogorsk. Other projects became possible when Finland joined the European Union in 1995. Since 2001-2002, a number of preliminary studies on the adoption of a cross-border strategy have been conducted.

Functioning of cross-border administration

Very recent cooperation at local level:
Cross-border cooperation between Imatra and Svetogorsk is very recent and is based on the will of a number of key-actors. Even though it mainly concerns the local level, it is also developed on regional level and is supported by the national and community authorities.
There is no specific structure devoted to cross-border cooperation, but a steering committee and an inter-municipal committee were formed in 2001 in order to see to the implementation of a cross-border strategy.

Networking of European cross-border conurbations:
From 2004 to 2006, Imatra and Svetogorsk took part in the "City Twins Co-operation Network" project which was geared towards promoting the exchange of good practices in the areas of local administration and cross-border cooperation, a network which is now part of EUROMOT.

Symbolic projects 

Development of the Imatra border check-point: The project, concluded in 2002, consisted in the setting up of an international border check-point including a road and rail passage, which has helped increase international and cross-border flows. Besides this, it will also help in the development of future actions of cooperation.

Key East Business Park: This business park, set up in Imatra, is aimed at providing the region with a network of international companies and should create 500 new jobs.