Kökar marina owner rejects alleged Kremlin links

Sandvik guest marina and campsite owner Anton Weg and board member Oskar Karlström have denied alleged links to the Kremlin, Yle reports. The ownership change at the marina on Kökar, in Åland’s outer archipelago, has sparked debate locally and on the Finnish mainland.

Weg, a Finnish and Russian dual national, acquired the business in May. Ålands Radio reported last week that Karlström, a business partner of Weg, had indirect links to an organisation close to the Russian state administration.

Karlström denies any such connection. He says the claims stem from a meeting at the marina about three years ago, when a motor-disabled sailing boat was towed into the harbour with a Russian man on board. According to media reports, the man was the head of the Russian think tank CPAIS.

“He was my guest. Since I work in the service sector, I welcome everyone regardless of where they come from. I do not even speak Russian,” Karlström told Yle by email.

Weg said his only aim was to operate and develop the campsite.

“I have no links to the Kremlin, nor have I ever had any. I am not interested in such links,” Weg told Yle by phone.

Born in St Petersburg, Weg said he had dreamed for years of buying a campsite. He had also considered a campsite in Naantali, but said its price became too high. He described Kökar as a unique place and said he had seen many campsites while travelling in Spain, France and Italy.

Before taking over Sandvik Hällor in May, Weg contacted Finland’s Ministry of Defence by email. Yle has seen the correspondence.

Weg asked whether his dual citizenship would prevent him from buying property in Finland or Åland. In a reply dated 14 April, the ministry said that restrictions on property purchases by Russian citizens do not apply to Finnish and Russian dual nationals.

Rickard Lindholm, an expert at the ministry’s infrastructure and environmental unit, said the ministry had not taken a position on the transaction. He said the response addressed Weg’s question only in general terms and could not be interpreted as an official decision or position.

Lindholm also stressed that Finnish legislation does not apply in Åland and that the Finnish state has no powers there. Business transactions are not within the ministry’s remit either.

The marina is located beside an important shipping route, about one kilometre from a Coast Guard station. The location has made it a focus of heightened security attention in recent years.