Finnish real estate company says deal for sports and entertainment venue will restore it to its former glory. Helsinki’s main sports and entertainment arena is expected to reopen in the spring after getting caught in a Russian sanctions drama that left it disused, without power and starting to smell.
Helsinki arena, also known as Helsinki Ice Hall, has been closed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, when its Russian oligarch owners were subjected to sanctions from the EU and US, which meant they were boycotted by the entertainment industry, and banks and insurance companies refused to provide essential services. The last events to be held at the 14,000-capacity venue were an ice hockey game and the televised Finnish sport gala in January 2022.
The closure nearly three years ago left the professional ice hockey club Jokerit without a home and Helsinki without a large-scale arena for hosting big cultural events and international music acts. Last year, the city of Helsinki threatened the Russian-Finnish businessmen Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg, who control the company that owns Helsinki arena, with expropriation unless they volunteered to sell it.
Under the sanctions, they are allowed to sell their shares, but they are subject to approval by the EU and local authority. If they get final approval and the transaction is completed, any profits will be frozen by Finnish authorities until sanctions are lifted.
Timchenko, who amassed a fortune through oil trading, has been named by the US as a member of president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Timchenko has frequently been photographed playing ice hockey alongside Putin and other members of the Russian elite, including the Rotenberg family.
