Treaty Between the Russian and Finnish
Socialist Republics

The Council of the Peoples Commissars of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic and the Council of the Peoples Representatives of the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic, with the aim of strengthening the friendship and brotherhood between the two aforesaid free Republics, have concluded this treaty.

§ 1

The Russian Federative Soviet Republic hands over to the independent Finnish Socialist Workers Republic all real property, belonging to the Russian Republic or to Russian State institutions as by the rights of ownership or rights of use, such as: lands, waters, lands in the settlements, buildings, works and factories and also telegraph stations, railways, fortresses, lighthouses, light- and spar- buoys, situated within the frontiers of the former Grand Duchy of Finland.

§ 2

The Finnish Socialist Workers Republic, for its part, hands over to the Russian Federative Soviet Republic all real property belonging to the Finnish Treasury or to Finnish State institutions, as by the rights of property or rights of use, such as: lands, waters, lands in the settlements, buildings, works and factories and also telegraph stations, railways, fortresses, lighthouses, light- and spar- buoys, situated within the territory of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic.

§ 3

The Finnish Socialist Workers Republic also agrees to purchase other, not mentioned in the § 1 of this treaty, property belonging to the Russian Federative Soviet Republic and situated within the borders of the former Grand Duchy of Finland and has priority rights to purchase such a property as long as it does not interfere with the interests of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic

§ 4

The property, which according to the decision of Russian-Finnish conciliatory committee is handed over to the workers organizations, is excluded from the list of the property mentioned above.

§ 5

To contribute to nationalization of the Finnish mercantile marine, the Russian Federative Soviet Republic will hand over to the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic all the vessels belonged to the Finnish state, communes or private persons, confiscated by the Russian government before or during the war in 'as is' state. Any other confiscated property that at the moment of the signing of this treaty is situated within the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Finland is also due to the handover.

§ 6

The effect of the previous paragraphs does not spread on the property that is necessary to the Russian Federative Soviet Republic on the territory of the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic and to the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic on the territory of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic for institutions and personnel of the diplomatic, consular and trade services and for the cultural and educational institutions and medical services.

§ 7

The amount of recompense for the property, handed off according to §§ 1 ,2, 3 and 4 of this treaty is defined by the special Russian-Finnish conciliatory committee.

The payments due for these handing over are made by the demand of the Russian Liquidation Committee on Finnish affairs and are booked on the special account, closed after final settling.

§ 8

The sums that Finnish state institution and Finnish treasury are due to the Russian state institution and Russian treasury and vice versa and Russian short-time obligations, concluded through the mediation of the Bank of Finland are declared valid by the government of both Socialist republics and the method of their clearing off, independently of the payments done according to § 7, will be proposed by the sub-committee of the Russian-Finnish conciliatory committee.

§ 9

The Contracting Parties ensure for all merchant ships of Russian and Finnish Socialist Republics the free passage during all future times to all sea, lake and river ports, anchorages and channels and give these vessels the right of the free unhampered unloading and loading of cargo and use of the pilots service. The technical condition of the afore-stated free use will be set by the separate agreements.

§ 10

Russian and Finnish railways will establish constant direct passenger and cargo connection.

§ 11

Conditions of use by the Russian Federative Soviet Republic of the telegraph, post and main roads on the territory of the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic and, accordingly, by the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic on the territory of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic will be set by separate agreement. In which connection, contrary to the common statements of the § 1, in accord with corresponding international treaties and practice, the three cable lines (NN 13, 60 and 42) going through the territory the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic and connecting Petrograd with Stockholm, Newcastle and Fridericia and direct cable Petrograd-Vartaniemy-Alexandrovsk-on-Murman, going through Viborg, Kuopio, Kemi and Rovaniemi will stay in the exterritorial ownership of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic for 50 years. Also all the rights on the three direct cables connecting Newstadt with Sweden through Åland Islands according the agreement with the Danish Telegraph Company will stay with the Russian Federative Soviet Republic.

§ 12

Both Contracting Parties will immediately set up a joint subcommittee affiliated to the Russian-Finnish conciliatory committee for development of the draft of the Trading Treaty between the two states.

§ 13

All Russian citizens of Finnish origin and all Finnish citizens of Russian origin will have the equal rights with the other citizens of the corresponding state.

The Finnish citizens in Russia and, equally, Russian citizens in Finland will be given the equal with the native citizens rights in privacy, public freedom and community rights.

The Russian federation grants all political rights of the Russian citizens to the Finnish citizens that belong to the working class and non-using hired work peasantry, if they work on the territory of Russia.

On its part, the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic obliges to grant the citizens of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic in Finland the easiest conditions for obtaining political rights, especially taking into consideration the interests of the unsettled working people.

§ 14

The Finnish Socialist Workers Republic obliges not to create any difficulties and promises to assist to continuation and soonest fulfillment of the withdrawal from the territory of the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic the land and naval forces and institutions of the Military and Naval ministries of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic.

§ 15

The Russian Federative Soviet Republic alienates into the full ownership of the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic the following territory, if there will be a free will of its inhabitants.

The new Russian-Finnish state border will now be the line that goes strait from the present point in Korvatunturi to the beginning of the Pechenga (Petsamo) river and then by the eastern watershed of the Pechenga (Petsamo) river through the Motovsky bay (Muotkofiord) and Rybachy Nos peninsula by the strait lane to the shore of the Arctic Ocean at the Zubovo (Supuski) village.

The committee, set according to the § 17 of this treaty should set the special conditions that will secure: 1) the rights of the Russian inhabitants that are fishing and exploiting other trades in the alienated territory; 2) the right of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic for free trade transit to and from Norway; 3) the rights, following from the concluded and acting treaties between Russia and Norway.

The due payments for the alienation of the said territory are made according to the § 7 of this treaty.

§ 16

The Contracting Parties will set up a subcommittee affiliated to the Russian-Finnish conciliatory committee with the aim of the exact determination of the changes of the Russian-Finnish border, but the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic immediately alienates into the full ownership of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic the territory of the fort Ino on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and provides the necessary transit to this fort.

§ 17

The Conciliatory Committee, set by the governments of the both Contracting Parties, will propose additional agreements, evolving from this treaty. The said agreements should be approved by the governments of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic and the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic.

§ 18

Any discords in creating the above-said additional agreements and in interpretation of this Treaty and signed above-said agreements and in the cases of breaking any of the articles of the treaty or agreements are presented to the arbitration tribunal, the chairman of which is nominated by the executive committee of the Swedish Left Social Democratic Party unless it will be set otherwise later.

§ 19

The given Treaty is coming into force from the moment of its signing by the plenipotentiary representatives of the governments of the both Socialist Republics.

§ 20

The plenipotentiary representatives of the governments of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic and the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic signed and sealed the two copies of the treaty in Russian and Finnish.

Upon authorization of the Soviet of the Peoples Commissars:
Chairman of the Soviet of the Peoples Commissars V.Uljanov (Lenin),
P.Proshjan, L.Trotsky, I.Dzhugashvili-Stalin
Administrator of the Soviet of the Peoples Commissars Vlad. Bonch-Bruevich
Secretary of the Soviet N.Gorbunov

Upon authorization of the Council of Peoples Representatives of Finland:
Edvard Gylling, Oskari Tokoi

March 1st, 1918