After Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as a result of the sanctions imposed on Russian investors, a significant ice hockey and concert venue, the Helsinki Arena, was closed.
According to Reuters, the executive governing board of Helsinki will begin a forceful takeover of the arena from its sanctioned Russian owners unless they sell the facility. Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire with stakes in Russian energy firms, and Roman Rotenberg, a descendant of the powerful Rotenberg clan, own the arena.
The city board asserts that the expropriation is necessary to keep the building from deteriorating and to protect Finland’s reputation from damage from its incapacity to host significant international events.
Neither the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF), for which Rotenberg is vice president, nor Volga Group, controlled by Timchenko, nor the Russian embassy in Finland did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
Sanctions against Moscow for its war in Ukraine are clearly working. Western governments and companies must stop all business with Russia to avoid any harm to their reputation and income losses.
