Court remands contractor CEO in Kotka trafficking probe

Two people have been remanded in custody on suspicion of human trafficking and aggravated arrangement of illegal entry at a battery materials plant construction site in Kotka, Yle reports. One is Jin Zhang, managing director of JSI, a subcontractor at the site.

The Kymenlaakso District Court ordered the remand on Monday, finding probable cause to suspect the pair of the offences. The suspected crimes took place during 2026.

Zhang denies all the allegations and is cooperating with police and other parties, his lawyer Jukka Sankamo told Yle. Helsinki Police have previously said they are investigating activities at the plant site. According to Yle, police carried out an operation there last week.

The construction site’s main contractor is China Harbour Engineering Company. The plant is being built in Keltakallio, Kotka, by Easpring Finland New Materials, a Finnish-Chinese company whose ownership is mainly Chinese. Finnish state-owned company Finnish Minerals Group owns part of it.

Hundreds of Chinese workers have been employed at the site since the beginning of the year, with more than 300 working there at the busiest point in the summer. Labour leasing company Eezy Sonire brought the workers to Finland, and some moved to work for its client company during the summer.

Yle reported in August on serious problems with the workers’ conditions. It said JSI had required them to sign an employment contract that was illegal under Finnish law, some wages had gone unpaid, and large amounts had been deducted for accommodation and meals. Workers had also been threatened and pressured, Yle reported.

The 800 million euro plant is intended to produce cathode active material for the electric vehicle industry. Its production start has been delayed because the production lines were not completed on schedule.