Report says Garden Helsinki state aid had no conditions

A report by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture appears to show that no conditions were attached to the state’s proposed support for the Garden Helsinki arena project, Helsingin Sanomat reported. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has repeatedly said the support came with specific conditions and targets.

The information is based on a report the ministry submitted to the Chancellor of Justice, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The report also indicates that the ministry responsible for the matter did not know the grounds for the support pledge or that the Ministry of Finance had previously taken a critical view of the project.

The government reserved 35 million euros in conditional state aid for Garden Helsinki in spring 2025. The decision has since prompted extensive debate.

In a statement this summer, Orpo said the 35 million euro support had been subject to precise conditions and targets. After initially discussing the matter in writing, he repeated that the aid was conditional during an appearance on the A Studio television programme on July 15.

On July 20, Orpo announced that the government would withdraw its political support for the project. He cited changes during the previous 15 months, including the project becoming smaller and being delayed, mistakes in lobbying efforts and changes in the competitive situation.

Orpo also said that the public debate had affected the decision and that the project would in any case have needed to be reconsidered politically.

The issue returned to the headlines after entries concerning meetings between politicians and Projekti GH, the company behind the Garden project, appeared in Finland’s transparency register for lobbying communications. Orpo denied any misconduct to Yle that same day.

The Chancellor of Justice is investigating whether Orpo may have been disqualified from participating in decisions concerning Garden. Orpo submitted his response at the end of August and said he had not received any new requests for information from the Chancellor of Justice.

What the Garden dispute concerns

Garden Helsinki is a long-planned project to build a new international-level multipurpose event arena in Helsinki’s Töölö district.

The government decided at its spring 2025 budget framework session to reserve 35 million euros in conditional state aid for the project, despite the Ministry of Finance having previously expressed reservations about the support.

It has been reported publicly that the aid was conditional on the project going ahead and meeting requirements set for it. Those requirements were not made public.

Orpo’s National Coalition Party is at the centre of the dispute. The party brought the matter before the government, and the project was promoted by National Coalition politician Jan Vapaavuori.

Orpo has described the project as nationally important and pointed to its employment, economic and growth effects, although assessments of those effects have differed.

Opposition parties have criticised the secrecy surrounding the preparation of the decision. They have suggested that the support was secured through internal party connections while the government was making cuts elsewhere in public finances.