The property at the centre of the proposed deal is located next to Rovaniemi Airport in Finnish Lapland.
The sale of real estate and land in the vicinity of airports can be seen as potentially posing strategic military risks.
The Finnish state has intervened to block the sale of an industrial property to a Russian buyer, citing national security reasons, according to a report (siirryt toiseen palveluun) by tabloid newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.
The paper added that the Ministry of Defence has confirmed the report.
A Russian citizen had enquired about buying the empty property, which was located very close to Rovaniemi Airport. However, the sale of real estate and land in the vicinity of airports can be seen as potentially posing strategic military risks.
The Ministry of Defence told IS that the decision to preemptively block the deal was taken in June, but nothing has yet been finalised.
The law on the right to refuse permission to buy real estate in Finland came into force on 1 January 2020.
The law decrees that private individuals who are not nationals of European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) states and companies or other entities domiciled outside EU and EEA must obtain permission from Finnish authorities to buy real estate in Finland.
anonypanda on June 21st, 2022 at 21:59 UTC »
I don’t know why this is news. We block Russian property deals on security grounds all time in Finland.
The problem has been when we didn’t block them, like an oligarch who bought an island in a shipping lane and built 7 piers on it, high tech comms systems and a helipad with “wind breakers” (fortifications). Military and police raided it - it was being setup as a secret Russian spec ops site. He did it via a Finnish company and some greedy local collaborators to act as sham directors so it flew under the radar initially.
There’s also a “holiday village” for Russians being built right next to the locks of a major canal. Absolutely no tourism value in that area. Also has mysterious fortified helipads and deep basements and satellite and radio comms. Probably will be raided soon too.
Jushak on June 21st, 2022 at 20:11 UTC »
For what is worth SUPO (Finnish Security and Intelligence Services, our rough equivalent to FBI) has been paying attention to this trend for years that Russian individuals have been buying real estate near our military bases and critical infrastructure.
DT-770 on June 21st, 2022 at 17:38 UTC »
That's where the first F-35A jets will be stationed in 2025.