Following a treaty agreement in 1963, the USSR leased the Soviet section of the canal area and the Maly Vysotsky Island (Ravansaari) to Finland for fifty years. A new deeper canal was constructed by the Finns, which opened to traffic in 1968. The length of the canal itself is 42.9 kilometres (26.7 mi). Under the new Saimaa Canal lease treaty signed by the Finnish and Russian governments in 2010, Maly Vysotsky Island was again to be managed by Russian authorities. The treaty went into effect on 17 February 2012.
