Finnish defence ministry orders cancellation of Russian-owned property purchase near eastern border
The Finnish defence ministry has demanded the cancellation of a 2023 sale of a former summer camp centre in Miehikkälä, just 20 kilometres from the Russian border, after discovering the buyer was a company owned by three Russian citizens, Yle reports.
The property, known as Kesäkylä, was sold at an online auction for €40,000 in early 2024 to a limited housing company registered in the neighbouring municipality of Virolahti. Finnish public broadcaster Yle found that the company’s registered owners are three Russian nationals.
The sale contract was signed five days before a July 2023 legal amendment banning real estate purchases by Russian and Belarusian buyers took effect. However, the ministry argues the new regulation applies, as the required permit was applied for over six months late—only reaching the ministry in winter 2026, long after the law had entered force.
Local residents reported that Russian war refugees briefly stayed at the camp in winter 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The facility, which includes three main buildings, a sauna, and a small beach on nearly 10 hectares of land, has otherwise stood empty in recent years.
If the ministry’s decision stands, the purchase must be reversed within six months. The enforcement authority had previously seized the property in winter 2024 due to the former Russian owners’ financial difficulties, cutting off electricity and heating before the auction.
Permit process under scrutiny
Emma Tuomela, a specialist at the defence ministry’s infrastructure unit, confirmed that all permit applications near the law’s effective date are processed based on submission timing, not the sale date. The ministry had warned in advance that permits for banned purchases must be filed no later than the day before the regulation took effect.
The ministry receives all foreign real estate transactions from the National Land Survey but relies on buyers to apply for necessary permits. Tuomela noted that while some applicants may be unaware of the requirement, others attempt to circumvent the law. Weekly reminders are sent to foreign buyers, but compliance remains inconsistent.
Complicating the case, the land survey agency had already registered the property under the housing company’s name by the time the delayed permit application arrived. The company’s Finnish registration and inclusion of at least one Finnish board member allowed the transfer to proceed under standard procedures for corporate buyers.
Historical ties to Soviet-era detention
Kesäkylä originally served as a postwar backup prison in Miehikkälä, where political detainees listed by the USSR for alleged war crimes were held. It later operated for decades as a children’s summer camp under the organisation Lasten Kesä before financial troubles led to its abandonment.
The defence ministry does not comment on individual cases but emphasises active monitoring of foreign ownership near strategically sensitive areas, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.