Financial responsibility – port operations continued their strong positive impact

The Port of Helsinki operates in a financially sustainable manner and creates national and regional well-being. A stable financial result is also the basis for the company’s responsible operations.

The Port takes care of the profitability, competitiveness and efficiency of its business operations. The objective is to achieve a good result with plenty to share with the company’s owner, the City of Helsinki, and the residents of Helsinki.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, the Port’s result in 2021 was negative.
However, the company’s financial position as a whole remains strong.

In 2021:

  • The Port of Helsinki’s direct tax footprint was 3 million euros.
  • The Port paid the City a total of 19 million euros in interest and lease fees.

Even though the pandemic continued throughout 2021 and had a negative impact on the Port’s passenger business operations in particular, the Port continued its investment programme with determination. For more on the Port’s investments, please see Chapter 2.

The positive impact of the port operations of Helsinki on the economy and society remained strong, although there is no research information from the pandemic period. According to the Port’s 2019 survey, the sector employs directly and indirectly a total of 15,000 people, and the total revenue brought to the metropolitan area by passengers is 805,000,000 euros. Read more about the impact of Helsinki’s port operations. 

Carbon footprint calculations being surveyed

The Port favours investments that have minimal negative impacts on the environment and a positive effect on the efficiency of port operations. The objective of reducing carbon dioxide emissions during construction and building use is to significantly reduce the negative climate impact caused by the Port’s operations.

  • In 2021, the Port of Helsinki introduced a tendering model in which bidding suppliers are requested to provide a carbon footprint calculation. In its 2021 tendering processes, the Port received a carbon footprint calculation from bidding service providers for every significant service offering, which can be used as the basis for development measures during future agreement periods.
  • In late 2021, the Port of Helsinki launched a project in which design and consultancy firm AFRY Finland will design a calculator for calculating the emissions generated from the Port’s investments. The work and related staff training will be completed in the spring of 2022. Carrying out emission calculations as part of investment decisions will increase understanding regarding the climate impacts of different investment options.

Responsible procurement

The Port of Helsinki promotes business that supports sustainable development in cooperation with its customers and subcontractors. The procurement process is being developed to make it easier to take environmental criteria and the carbon footprint of procurement into account.

  • The Port of Helsinki evaluates the performance of suppliers and subcontractors in the areas of environmental and social responsibility as well. In 2021, the Port continued implementing its supplier evaluation process with its current agreement suppliers.