Helsinki Halli sale wrangle rumbles on

The stalemate over the future of Finland’s Russian-owned Helsinki Halli has continued after the proposed sale of the arena fell through.

The former Hartwall Arena (cap. 15,500), which is owned by Arena Events Oy (AEO) – a company co-founded by oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg – has been mothballed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 due to sanctions against Timchenko and the Rotenberg family.

Rotenberg and Timchenko own a combined 44% of the arena’s holding company, Helsinki Halli Oy, but their combined voting power in the firm accounts for 93.9%.

The City of Helsinki signalled its intention to acquire the venue earlier this year, with a deal reportedly reached and recently approved by the Finnish authorities – only for the Russian side to pull out at the eleventh hour due to the prospect of having the proceeds frozen.

“The shares of the Helsinki Hall that belong to the listed persons are frozen at the moment,” a spokesperson for the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs tells The Insider. “Freezing of the shares does not prevent the hall from being used for its purpose, but it is rather the image related to sanctions and Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine that has led to the situation in which the hall is not used.

The Finnish government reportedly set aside €200,000 in its budget for the expropriation of the hall

“According to our knowledge, lately the company has not been able to receive any bank services and has had trouble paying its bills.”

The building’s electricity and heating have been cut off, leading to concerns it will fall into disrepair as the weather turns colder.

Helsinki Sanomat reports the Finnish government has set aside €200,000 in its budget for the expropriation of the hall, which it believes may require its own separate law, and plans to start the process this month if a voluntary trade cannot be completed.

“The schedule is one of the reasons why we want the process to be as quick as possible, in order to have a hall that is ready for use,” said Jukka-Pekka Ujula, the head of the city’s office.

Beverage giant Hartwall ended its 25-year association with the arena due to the arena’s Russian ownership shortly after the war began, while concerts by acts such as Elton John, Dua Lipa, Queen + Adam Lambert, Bjork, Eric Clapton, Kiss and The Cure were either cancelled or moved to other venues.

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