Jokerit, Finland’s only ice hockey team in the Russian KHL, have been late paying players’ salaries this autumn. The topic was broached by Jussi Pesonen, who plays for Vaasan Sport, on Twitter. Pesonen attributed the delay to sanctions slapped on the club’s Russian part-owners as a result of Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the owners’ ties to President Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t know where Pesonen has gotten his information, but it’s true that there have been some delays in money transfers,” said Jokerit CEO Jukka Korhonen. “Banks are now cautious and on their guard. Payments and transfers take longer than before. This affects all international payments and all businesses that have even small connections to Russia.”
Money laundering probe
Jokerit play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and are part-owned by Gennady Timchenko, who is reportedly under investigation by US prosecutors on suspicion of money laundering. He was put on the US sanctions list in April 2014 because of his close ties to Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t know if this is because of the personal sanctions,” said Korhonen. “We don’t have direct connections to anyone on the EU sanctions list.”
Timchenko is on the US and Canadian sanctions lists, but not on the European Union’s. He is a Finnish citizen, having lived in Finland during the 1990s along with his friends and Jokerit co-owners, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. Arkady, however, is on the European Union’s sanctions list.
Delays of up to a week
The three also own a majority stake in the Hartwall Arena, Jokerit’s home base. Their stake in Jokerit is below 50 percent, with Harry Harkimo retaining majority ownership. Jokerit’s banking services are taking longer than usual, and Korhonen admits that some players have been paid late.
“When we pay from Jokerit’s account to one player’s account sometimes it goes quickly,” said Korhonen. “With another player there could be a clearing stage. For example those players whose bank is located abroad might get paid slower. The transaction has so many stages that the process slows down a little.”
“In the last couple of weeks it’s felt like the delays can be from a day to a week,” said Korhonen. “Some go through without delays.”
Korhonen said that he had received no explanations for the delays, but also admitted he couldn’t be sure the payments had been made on the rights days. He denied, however, that Jokerit had any funding problems.