The Ministry of Finance is led by Minister of Finance Riikka Purra. Her responsibilities at the Ministry include economic policy, economic prospects and taxation as well as matters related to the strategic steering and supervision of central government borrowing, debt servicing and the investment of cash funds.

Purra graduated with a Master of Social Sciences from the University of Turku in 2004. She studied political science, economics, environmental policy and, later, educational science. Purra worked at the university, for example, as a graduate student and teacher.

Purra was elected to Parliament for the first time in 2019. During her first parliamentary term, Purra chaired the Administration Committee. Purra was elected as a deputy leader of the Finns Party in 2019 and as leader in 2021

Ambassador Jukka Salovaara is the Permanent State Secretary in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland since May 2022. The Permanent State Secretary is the most senior civil servant in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, with overall responsibility for the Foreign Ministry and Finnish diplomatic representations abroad.

Ambassador Salovaara has worked for the Finnish Foreign Ministry from 1995, serving in several senior positions as the Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, Director General for Political Affairs, and Director General for Europe. He has also served at the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office as Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister, EU Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister and Under- Secretary for EU Affairs. Ambassador Salovaara has also served the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament.

Mykhailo Vydoinyk is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Finland, a position he has held since April 2025. Born in Berezhany, Ukraine, he holds a degree in international economic relations from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

Ambassador Vydoinyk has an extensive diplomatic career spanning more than two decades, with senior roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, and the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers . He has also served abroad in Greece, Poland, and most recently as Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Denmark from 2018 to 2023.

Fluent in Ukrainian, English, Polish, and German, Ambassador Vydoinyk brings broad expertise in international diplomacy, economic cooperation, and European affairs to his current post in Finland.

Mirja Mikkilä works as associate professor (tenure track II stage) in Business economics of forestry at the department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki. She holds also an adjunct professor (Docent) position in Sustainability Science, LUT University.

Mirja Mikkilä’s expertise covers themes from business economics to sustainability, namely sustainable management, utilization, and economics of natural resources, sustainable systemic transition, and corporate responsibility and sustainability.

Before the current career within the academia, Mirja Mikkilä worked fifteen years within international natural resource consulting, and pulp and paper industry operations on four continents, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.

Architect Pekka Pakkanen is the founder and head of Planetary Architecture, an architectural firm established in 2019 to seek solutions for the climate and biodiversity crises of our time through sustainable high-quality architecture. Planetary Architecture designs long-lasting, and adaptable buildings using renewable materials, future building systems and concepts, and studies the impacts of various construction methods.

Pakkanen has worked as the chief designer in projects such as Allas Sea Pool, Serlachius Museum Gösta, Serlachius Art Sauna, and Versowood headqurters. He has been awarded 1st prize in 16 architectural competitions, has received the Wood Structure of the Year award, and has twice been nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Architecture.

Mika Hentunen is the Russia Correspondent for the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. Russia is the seventh country where he has lived and worked as a journalist. Prior to Moscow, he was based in Beijing and Washington D.C. His 30 years of on-site reporting for television, radio and online span from the fall of the iron curtain to 9/11, and from the war-torn Sarajevo to contested US elections, China and Russia.

In addition to daily news reporting, Mika has in recent years focused on changes in geopolitical and economical landscapes, especially in Global East and Global South countries.

Besides journalism, he is a published author of four non-fiction books and two novels. His latest book The Next Superpower: China’s Grand Plan to Reorder the World, (“Kiinan maailma”, Tammi 2025), co-authored with Kristiina Helenius, analyzes China’s rise and pursuit for global leadership and the rivalry with the West.

Russ Taylor worked as a forester in the 1970s (5 years at Northwood, Houston, BC) and in lumber sales, marketing and custom cutting in the 1980s (7 years at Interfor) before starting his consulting career in 1988 and forming International WOOD MARKETS Group in 1992.

Russ has conducted wood products market analysis and business assessment analysis on timber and wood products for global industry clients and has published 45 strategic outlook reports. He travels extensively to key producing, exporting and importing countries in China, Asia, Russia, Europe, the Southern Hemisphere and within North America to obtain first -hand insights.

Following the sale of WOOD MARKETS, Russ started up the next phase of his career in 2020 with RUSS TAYLOR GLOBAL – Wood Business & Market Consulting.

Mr. Taylor has a forestry degree (BScF) and an MBA, both from the University of B.C., and is also a B.C. registered professional forester (RPF-Ret).

Thomas was born in Wiesbaden, Germany. He received a bachelor degree in business from Coastal Carolina College and an MBA from the University of South Carolina Mr. Mende became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1994.

From 1990 until 2006, he worked for New South Companies, in South Carolina, a manufacturer of Southern Pine wood products. During that time, Mr. Mende focused on softwood exports from the USA to Asia and Europe and imports from South America and Europe.  He also developed the distribution system for his supplier Klausner in Asia and Australia. 

In 2006, Mr. Mende joined Klausner as President of Klausner Trading USA, started the company’s sales to the Middle East and opened and supervised the Shanghai, China and New Delhi, India sales offices for Klausner. 

In 2019, he joined Binderholz, The company’s US branch Binderholz Timber LLC. located in Atlanta is importing lumber, glulam and CLT and operates two Southern Yellow Pine sawmills in Florida and North Carolina

Mr. Mende has traveled to 89 countries and has conducted business in 58 of these countries. He brings a unique, global perspective to the industry. 

He was recently appointed by the US secretary of Agriculture as the importer alternate board member of the Softwood Lumber Board and is the manufacturers representative board member on the Executive committee of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association.