Office of the Historian

740.00119 Control (Finland)/12–1844: Telegram

The Minister in Sweden (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

Stockholm, December 18, 1944.
[Received December 19—11:31 p.m.]

5164. Dagens today quotes its Helsinki correspondent reporting that after lengthy negotiations between Finnish Government and Allied Control Commission agreement was signed last night by [Page 624] Premier Paasikivi2 and Colonel General Zhdanov3 providing that value of goods delivered by Finland to Soviet Union under indemnity clause shall be fixed according to 1938 price level with modification that increase of 10 [to] 15 percent is allowed on prices of certain goods. Russian leaders of Control Commission were guests of Finnish Government at banquet after agreement was signed.

Tidningen today adds that foregoing agreement will mean that Finland has undertaken to pay in reality about $600,000,000 instead of the $300,000,000 provided in armistice agreement.

Repeated today to Moscow as my No. 50 and London as my No. 1671.

Johnson
  1. Dr. Juho K. Paasikivi became Prime Minister of Finland on November 11, 1944, succeeding Urho J. Castrén, who had succeeded Hackzell on September 21, 1944.↩
  2. Chairman of the Allied Control Commission, to which post he was appointed upon conclusion of the armistice agreement in September 1944.↩