Taipalsaari municipality moves to block sale of lakeside resort once popular with Russian tourists

The municipality of Taipalsaari will exercise its right of first refusal to halt the sale of the Saimaanranta resort, a former Russian tourist hotspot sold this spring for €6,900, Yle reports.

The lakeside property, which includes a derelict 1980s-era hotel, was purchased by Saimaan Lomahovi Oy—a newly established company led by Olga Keronen, who also serves as CEO of the selling firm, Suur-Saimaa Strand Resort. The municipality now has three months to finalise the preemption, paying the €6,900 sale price to the current owner.

Taipalsaari’s municipal manager, Kari Kuuramaa, cited the area’s tourism and recreational potential as justification for the intervention. The council will address the matter as its sole agenda item in Monday’s meeting. Plans for the nearby Kutila Canal—a proposed 400-metre waterway linking the Pieni- and Suur-Saimaa lake systems—are expected to boost local boat traffic, with the municipality projecting 5,000 annual vessel transits once completed.

The resort has stood largely vacant since its peak as a Russian tourist destination in the early 2010s, operating briefly as a summer restaurant in 2024. Last year, Suur-Saimaa Strand Resort sought zoning exemptions to repurpose the site for storage facilities, but the municipality rejected the proposal, arguing it conflicted with the area’s designated tourism use. The canal project, budgeted at €20 million, remains delayed by pending environmental permit appeals in the Vaasa Administrative Court.