The applicants were citizens or companies owned by nationals of China, Ukraine, Turkey and India.
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) has denied a total of 14 prospective buyers, all from outside the EU and EEA, a permit to buy real estate in Finland.
The applicants were citizens or companies owned by citizens of China, Ukraine, Turkey and India, according to a press release from the ministry.
The reasons given for purchasing the real estate varied from business to recreational to residential usage.
The properties in question were located across the country, from Imatra in the east to Rovaniemi in the north.
However, Minister Häkkänen revoked the applicants’ rights to purchase the properties as the “acquisitions could be deemed to risk national security, hinder the organisation of national defence or endanger security of supply”, the ministry’s release stated.
Finnish authorities have blocked an increasing number of such transactions in recent years as concerns grow that the purchases could be used “to gain a foothold in the country or to undermine public authorities’ ability to act”, Häkkänen said earlier this year.
The decisions are based on Finland’s Act on Permit Requirements for Certain Real Estate Acquisitions, which came into force in 2019.
“We will prevent real estate transactions that could threaten our security,” Minister Häkkänen said on Thursday, as the latest cases were made public.
