Finland wants to seize large event hall from Russian oligarchs as soon as possible
Finland wants to speed up the procedure for confiscating the Helsinki Halli, a 15,500-seat indoor event centre, owned by Putin-affiliated oligarchs Gennadiy Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg, but is waiting for the final content of the new EU sanctions package.
Source: Ilta-Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The Finnish government wants Timchenko and Rotenberg to voluntarily sell a controlling stake in the Helsinki Halli, otherwise Finland will start the procedure of confiscating the shares. These Russian oligarchs, who have been sanctioned by the EU because of Russia's war against Ukraine, own part of the arena through the company Arena Events Oy.
The most likely start date, according to the Ilta-Sanomat source, is January-February 2024. "There will be no more delays. It is in everyone's interest to get the arena back into operation in one way or another," a source from the Finnish Foreign Ministry said.
The fact is that the arena has been closed since the end of February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine, and the Helsinki authorities are losing more than €100 million a year due to the inability to use it.
In this regard, December is crucial, when the EU is expected to agree upon the 12th package of sanctions against Russia.
The fact is that the exemption procedure for transactions involving the assets of sanctioned persons expired on 31 May. And if the new EU sanctions do not extend it, Helsinki will not be able to quickly seize the arena from the Russian oligarchs for at least another six months.
In addition, the procedure may be appealed in the Finnish parliament, which means it will take several more months.
"Finland is now actively working on this issue, as it wants an addition to the EU sanctions package, which, in any case, will allow the arena to be put into operation later," Pia Sarivaara, Team Leader for the Sanctions Team at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Ilta-Sanomat.
Background: Finland supports the transfer of Russian assets frozen abroad to help Ukraine.
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