Yle finds unanswered questions over Vantaa arena financing

Yle’s investigative programme MOT says key questions remain unanswered about the financing of a planned event arena in Kivistö, Vantaa, which is expected to cost €200 million.

The Finnish project leaders said in the summer that funding had been arranged by four British businessmen. According to the project’s management, the money would come from a US bank whose name has not been disclosed.

The funds are reportedly being channelled to Finland through EPower Capital, a Dubai-based company established by the businessmen. MOT obtained the company’s registration documents through its international contacts. The United Arab Emirates does not have public registers comparable to those in Finland and other Western countries, and the owners of companies cannot be determined from the records.

The documents identify British businessman Neil Pratt as EPower Capital’s director. Pratt has also led three companies in Britain, two of which have names beginning with EPower. MOT says those companies have had no significant assets, turnover or employees. Another British businessman, Ryan Greenwood, has been involved in the companies and visited Finland in June to present himself as a representative of the financiers.

MOT’s investigation found little publicly available information about the British investors beyond their links to companies in Britain that appear to have no value. The programme says it has been unable to establish what projects the businessmen have previously completed, whether they have a record of credible business or investment activity, or what their backgrounds are.

Questions also remain about the conditions under which a US bank would finance the project, what security has been provided for financing worth hundreds of millions of euros, and why money from the bank would be channelled through Dubai.

MOT said it had tried for more than a month to contact the reported financiers. The programme found Pratt’s telephone number and email address in the company records, but said attempts to arrange an interview were unsuccessful. Project director Pepe Perkiö eventually forwarded a message from Greenwood, who declined both an interview and to answer the questions sent to him.

Greenwood said the financiers’ role was to arrange the necessary funding and work with the relevant parties to ensure the successful implementation and completion of the Kivistö arena project. He said they were focusing on those responsibilities and on ensuring that the project progressed as planned.

The arena project is led in Finland by Perkiö and Jouko Harjunpää. In recent years, it has also been linked to a businessman convicted of financial crimes, who has since left the project, and to an unsuccessful search for financing from a sheikh in the Middle East.

In July 2026, Yle reported on uncertainties connected to EPower Capital. A woman linked to several alleged fraud cases in the United States was connected to the company. Perkiö said she had no connection to the Kivistö project and represented a separate Canadian company.

Although the arena is a private project, the City of Vantaa is involved in building infrastructure for it and has supported the project. The project leaders have also said they plan to seek public funding for construction.