The Ministry of Defence said it denied three property acquisitions by buyers from outside the EU and EEA on Tuesday. The negative decisions concern two properties in Ruokolahti and one in Kitee, both of which lie close to Finland's border with Russia.
Two of the transactions were carried out by private individuals and one by a company. The individuals and the owners of the company are Russian citizens.
The negative decisions are based on a law introduced in 2020 that requires non-EU and non-EEA citizens to apply for permission to buy property in Finland.
The Ministry of Defence used the law for the first time last year to block a Russian citizen from purchasing a house in Kotka, in the southeast of the country.
The Ministry of Defence justified its most recent decision on the grounds that the property purchases may hamper the organisation of national defence or the control and protection of territorial integrity.
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