Vantaa arena project faces second debt dispute in court

Arena 3.3, the project company planning a giant indoor arena in Kivistö, Vantaa, is facing a second debt-related dispute with BTA Engineer, Yle reports.

Last June, the East Uusimaa District Court ordered Arena 3.3 to pay BTA Engineer, which provides HVAC contracting and maintenance services, nearly 50,000 euros for unpaid invoices. The company was also ordered to pay interest and other costs.

The new case before the district court also concerns a debt. BTA Engineer is seeking payment from Arena 3.3, but the court has not yet issued a ruling.

Rami Seppänen, chair of BTA Engineer’s board, said the dispute began because Arena 3.3 used BTA Engineer’s premises and equipment without paying for them. According to Seppänen, the companies had an agreement under which Arena 3.3 was required to pay, among other things, rent.

“Arena 3.3 held its own design meetings and contract negotiations at BTA’s premises and ran the arena business there,” Seppänen said.

Companies have conflicting views

Pepe Perkiö is linked to both companies. He is known as the head of the Arena 3.3 project, but he was also BTA Engineer’s chief executive from August 2023 to July 2024.

During Perkiö’s tenure as chief executive, the companies signed a consultancy agreement under which Arena 3.3 bought services from BTA Engineer. Perkiö worked as the consultant.

Perkiö now represents Arena 3.3 and disputes that the company owes BTA Engineer rent or other unpaid charges. He told Yle by email that the agreement between the companies was based on standard terms used in the consultancy sector and included compensation for his expert services. He said overheads such as office rent were included in that compensation.

Perkiö considers the rent claim contrary to the agreement and without basis. He said he had filed a complaint about it with BTA Engineer.

“An unfounded debt claim says more about the creditor,” Perkiö wrote.

Perkiö said he and Seppänen had jointly prepared and signed the consultancy agreement. Seppänen said that Perkiö was not yet on the Arena 3.3 project’s board when the agreement was made, although he owned shares in the company. According to Seppänen, Perkiö also made other agreements between BTA Engineer and the Arena 3.3 project while serving as chief executive.

“There is a conflict there. You cannot make decisions and agreements on your own behalf,” Seppänen said.

Earlier ruling was issued in default

The ruling issued last June was a default judgment because Arena 3.3 responded to the claim after the deadline. The district court asked BTA Engineer whether the late response could be considered or whether it wanted the case decided by default judgment. BTA Engineer requested a default judgment.

“If we had considered the late response, we would have had to go to a court hearing. We chose this because it sped up the process,” Seppänen said.

Arena 3.3 has paid the amount ordered by the court. Seppänen said the debt in the new case is slightly more than 10,000 euros.

Seppänen said the claims originally amounted to about 240,000 euros. Some of the money was paid without court proceedings, and he said further claims would be filed.

The arena is planned for Kivistö in Vantaa and would be Finland’s largest indoor event arena if completed.