A group of Finnish investors agreed on Tuesday evening to purchase an arena in Helsinki which has been out of use for more than two years due to Russian sanctions.
The venue's sellers — who include Russian oligarchs Gennady Timchenko, as well as Arkadi, Boris and Roman Rotenberg — confirmed the sale on Tuesday evening, Ilta-Sanomat reported.
The buyer of the hall is Trevian Kasvu LP, established by the real estate investment firm Trevian Asset Management for the purchase and ownership of the Helsinki Arena.
Yle contacted Heikki Viitikko, managing director and board member of River Estate, one of the investors in the property.
Viitikko is also the former owner of the ice hockey team Mikkelin Jukurit, which plays in the Liiga, Finland's top tier league of the sport.
However, it will likely still take several months before authorities approve and issue the required permits for the sale to go through.
But Viitikko said he hoped that the arena — "Finland's Madison Square Garden", as he referred to it — could re-open as early as next spring.
Yle has learned that another of the new owners is Helsinki real estate entrepreneur Reima Södervall, the CEO and founder of Trevian Asset Management. The names of the other investors have not been made public.
Timchenko's business manager, Kai Paananen, confirmed the news of the deal to Yle on Tuesday evening, saying that Finland's Foreign Ministry still needed to approve the transaction.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that it was aware of the deal.
"We have not seen any signed contracts yet, so have been unable to assess it," said Pia Sarivaara, the ministry's sanctions unit legal chief told Yle.
The City of Helsinki issued a press release on Tuesday saying that it was aware of the deal.
"The city is not a party in the sales agreement, and does not know about the agreement's details," Helsinki City Manager Jukka-Pekka Ujula said in the release.
"Good news for the city"
"We have been in dialogue with several potential buyers, but have not participated in the negotiations. We have known for a long time that various discussions have been going on," Ujula told Yle by email.
He added that the arena's sale was long-awaited and good news for the city, "especially for the events and tourism industry".
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told Yle that the government should approve the deal if the paperwork is in order. The foreign ministry is currently reviewing the deal's agreements.
The arena's electricity, district heating and water were cut off at the beginning of September due to unpaid bills. At the beginning of this week, it was reported that the facility was beginning to smell musty, possibly due to the extended lack of ventilation and heating.
Timchenko's business manager Paananen is also on the board of Helsinki Halli, the arena's current operator. Paananen told Yle that he was unaware of any noticeable damage at the facility.
Paananen said he had not been to the arena in a while, but had discussed the building's condition with people who work there. According to Paananen, they have said that there is no water damage, for example, and that no particular smells were noticed at the arena.
Paananen said he hoped that the heat and electricity would be restored at the facility as soon as possible, possibly within a few days. He added that the buyers would be responsible for that.
4.14pm: Updated with more information about owners.