Ruutikangas settles dispute with former CEO for €50,000

Ruutikangas Oy’s bankruptcy estate and the company’s former chief executive, Timo Haataja, have reached a settlement, Yle reports. The company will pay Haataja €50,000, the amount he previously paid to cover a debt he had guaranteed on Ruutikangas Oy’s behalf.

Haataja had guaranteed the company’s debt and paid it when Ruutikangas Oy failed to do so. Under the settlement, the company will reimburse him.

Haataja will withdraw his claims concerning unpaid wages. Ruutikangas Oy, through its bankruptcy estate, will withdraw its claims against Haataja, including claims based on alleged criminal conduct.

Ruutikangas Oy, which developed and built the Ruutikangas shooting sports centre in Liminka near Oulu, had previously faced a legal claim from Haataja for almost €200,000. Haataja said the company had failed to pay him nearly €140,000 in wages.

Dispute does not concern current centre

The dispute concerns Ruutikangas Oy, which was founded in 2019 to develop and build the shooting sports centre. The company entered bankruptcy last May and has now announced that it will not continue legal proceedings against Haataja.

Ownership of the centre changed in 2023. The current Ruutikunnat Oy is owned by the cities of Oulu and Raahe and the municipalities of Liminka and Lumijoki.

The Ruutikangas shooting sports centre in Liminka has received significant state funding in recent years and has been marketed as one of Europe’s largest shooting ranges. In 2024, it received €1 million in government budget negotiations as the only shooting sports centre in Finland to receive such funding.

The centre was also a key project of the Ministry of Education and Culture from 2020 to 2023, receiving just under €800,000 in funding. In addition, it received €300,000 in parliamentary funding in 2023.