The State of Finland owns shares in about 70 companies. State ownership steering is the responsibility of the Ownership Steering Department at the Prime Minister's Office. Companies that are wholly owned by the state or where the state has a controlling interest include
The state is also a minority shareholder in a number of companies, such as Neste, DigiFinland and the Finnish Seed Potato Centre (SPK).
There are many reasons behind state ownership in Finnish companies. They include
Most of the companies wholly or partially owned by the state compete in the markets with other companies. However, such companies as Alko Inc and Veikkaus Oy have a statutory monopoly in their sectors.
The State of Finland has been a business operator for about one hundred years. One of the reasons for the establishment of state-owned companies was the state's attempt to promote industrialisation in Finland. The state has also established and owned transport and telecommunications infrastructure that was not commercially viable at the time of the establishment.
The State of Finland has gradually reduced its ownership in companies since the 1980s. However, new state-owned companies have still been established in the 2020s.