City of Helsinki set to buy former Hartwall Arena
Finland's largest arena, the Russian-owned Helsinki Halli, has been shuttered since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022
News By James Hanley | 11 April 2024
The two-year saga over the future of Finland’s largest arena could finally be nearing its conclusion after the City of Helsinki signalled its intention to acquire the venue from its Russian owners.
The 15,500-cap Helsinki Halli, formerly the Hartwall Arena, has been owned by Arena Events Oy (AEO) – a company co-founded by oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg – since 2013, but shuttered in early 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All of Timchenko’s holdings in the EU have been frozen, while Rotenberg’s family is the target of US sanctions for their ties with Vladimir Putin.
“The city will take measures to buy the required shares or arena property by sale,” the City of Helsinki tells Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS).
According to YLE…
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