The Finnish Ministry of Defence is preparing draft legislation which could place a total ban on Russian citizens buying real estate in Finland, Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) has told Yle.
The bill has been prepared by the ministry over the summer months, Häkkänen said, and it will likely be handed to the government for further consideration in the early autumn. He added that the law reform would be treated as a priority.
If passed, the legislation could allow Finnish authorities to restrict the sale of properties within Finland to foreign nationals under certain circumstances, but it is seen as a means of preventing Russian citizens — especially those with links to the Kremlin — from purchasing Finnish real estate.
Yle reported earlier this week that Häkkänen stepped in to block the sale of a property in Sysmä, in the south of Finland, to a 61-year-old businessman of dual Swiss and Russian nationality. The prospective buyer owns a company in a sector that serves military activities.
Häkkänen noted that his ministry has intervened in several similar attempts by Russian nationals to buy properties in Finland over the past six months, where the buyer's background raised concerns about the potential transaction.
The buyers were either Russian citizens or dual Russian nationals, and the ministry suspected they had links to the Russian government or organised crime groups.
Häkkänen said the Finnish Defence Forces have good intelligence on the backgrounds and connections of most potential buyers, but the current legislation does not allow enough time for authorities to prevent all real estate transactions that could pose a threat to Finnish national security.
For example, Russian oligarch and arms manufacturer Igor Kesaev, who is suspected of having ties to the Russian security service FSB, was able to purchase an island in the Saimaa lake region, located about 100km from the Finnish-Russian border.
Finnish authorities have closely monitored operations at Kesaev's property.