The general goal of the project was to promote trade and production cooperation between wood harvesting companies and refi neries in East Finland and the Republic of Karelia. In addition, the intent was to support technology transfer in the forest industry. The specific goal of the Interreg section was to strengthen the capacity of wood industry companies in East Finland to engage in cooperation across the border. This was to be achieved by securing the centralised availability of Russian wood raw material and basic information regarding wood product quality. The specific goal of the Tacis part was to produce comparative information on the weaknesses and advantages of two wood harvesting methods. The information was to be used by Russian wood harvesting companies in decision-making in selecting a suitable harvesting method. Alternatively, the research information could also be used by forest harvester machine manufacturers when marketing their products in Russia. A goal of the joint project was to improve the information exchange as well, in addition to its utilisation between forestry research institutions. Moreover, information concerning the most essential learning requirements of harvesting companies was to be offered to Russian forest industry educational institutions. Achievements: The Interreg section studied the quality of the Russian birch round-wood raw material for plywood and lumber production. Similarly, spruce was studied for producing lumber and products. The research focused on wood originating in the Republic of Karelia. However, the material was supplemented with wood from the Leningrad and Vologda regions. The effect of the wood harvesting methods (stem and shortwood method) on the quality of the raw material was included in a report based on literature reviews and a survey completed by the most significant wood harvesting companies in the Republic of Karelia. Petrozavodsk State University Faculty of Forest Engineering was the specialist authority responsible for conducting the harvesting study. Information concerning the forest and wood industry companies in Northwest Russia was gathered and included in a registry for the Eastern Forest Information Internet service: www.idanmetsatieto.info. The contact information and a short description of 260 Russian forest and wood industry companies from the Republic of Karelia, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and Leningrad regions were gathered for the registry. The registry can be used independently by Finnish companies as a suitable tool for seeking partners. The earlier, primarily Finnish Forest Information of the East Internet service was made bilingual by producing information for a parallel website in Russian at www.lesinfo.fi . The service published material, 20 pages in length, on the Finnish forest sector, including information respective to forest resources, policies and management, wood harvesting, the forest industry and forest diversity. In addition, it published information respective to the Finnish wood industrys quality requirements for raw materials and a report on Finnish wood harvesting technology being used in Russia. A wood quality section was added to both the Finnish and the Russian website, which included a review of the results of the spruce and birch quality study. 113 www.euregiokarelia.fi A study was implemented in the Tacis part, where comparisons were made between the Nordic shortwood method and the Russian stem method and their effect on wood quality, occupational safety and ergonomics, financial profitability and the environment. The researchers from Petrozavodsk State Universitys Faculty of Forest Engineering gathered the empirical field material from the harvesting areas of 15 companies in the Republic of Karelia and analysed the material. The results of the research were used to publish a book entitled Comparison of wood harvesting methods in the Republic of Karelia for wood harvesting companies, in both Russian and English. The book provided companies with new information based on research to assist in selecting their harvesting method. In addition, it offered new perspectives for assessing technologies by including ergonomics, environmental impact, and lumber quality in addition to the traditional financial criteria. Based on the research, it could be concluded that by moving from the stem method to the shortwood method in wood harvesting, a companys profitability could be increased by 30 percent. Copies of the books were also sent to educational institutions in the industry for instructional purposes. A training need assessment for Russian harvester companies employees was completed through interviews with Russian harvester drivers and field material analysis. The assessment analysed the connections between the skill level of the harvester drivers and wood quality, the profitability of the harvester companies, and environmental impacts of harvesting. A report of the assessment was prepared in Russian and Finnish, which can be used as a tool by educational institutions when planning their future course selections. The report presented, for example, the most urgent needs for forest harvester driver training in Russia. In addition, a literature review was created in Finnish and Russian regarding the wood quality study in Northwest Russia. A total of 7 extensive and 16 more limited reports and articles were produced during the project. The Tacis part was also used to develop the previously created Finnish Forest Information respective to the Eastern Internet service: A summary of the results of the comparative research and all publications produced were included in the Internet service in Russian at www.lesinfo.fi as well as the website in Finnish at www.idanmetsatieto.info. During the project, the cooperation relationships between the Finnish Forest Research Institute and the Faculty of Forest Engineering at Petrozavodsk State University were strengthened, and a cooperation network was created with the harvester companies of the Republic of Karelia.