Finland Times

About 14,000 foreign berry pickers will arrive in Finland this year, reported the Finnish-language newspaper Savon Sanomat quoting an assessment of the Ministry of Foreign affairs.

Most of the pickers usually come from Ukraine. From there this year 9,000 pickers will come. Until two years ago, about 6,000 Ukrainian pickers used to arrive in Finland annually. About one-third of the Ukrainian pickers will head to North Savonia.

Thailand will send the second-highest number of berry pickers, who focus on picking forest berries.

The Savon Sanomat report said the number of Russians has increased due to the weak exchange rate of the ruble.

The number of interested parties has grown enormously in recent years, said Alexander Ganchev, the man responsible for handling the Ukrainian berry pickers, told the newspaper in an interview.

Ganchev said the cause for the increased interest is the weak economic situation and low wages in Ukraine.