Sanctions Auvo Niiniketo, who took care of the Rotenberg oligarch family in Finland, leaves the Långvik spa company: “I would depend on the company”

Businessman Auvo Niiniketo tells Helsingin Sanomat that it will relinquish its board position and ownership in Ryokan oy, the backbone company of the Långvik spa in Kirkkonummi.

Opened in 2010, the spa hotel was founded by the Rotenberg oligarch family, whose affairs Niiniketo has long taken care of in Finland.

Niiniketo announced his resignation to Ryokan’s board on Friday. Niiniketo justifies the decision on the grounds that the recent negative publicity has hampered the work of the spa hotel staff and the company.

“I hope this clarifies the situation. I would be addicted to the company, even though I no longer have anything to do with the Rotenbergs, ”Niiniketo tells HS.

He says he has acted in full compliance with the instructions given by the authorities.

Of the Russians the transactions of the oligarchs have risen to the headlines since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Helsingin sanomat newspaper news The ryokan received help from the State Department in 2015 when the company wanted to prove to various parties that ties to the US-sanctioned Rothenberg had been severed.

The State Department commented to HS that it was not its responsibility to investigate the actual links between the new owners and the Rotenbergs on the US sanctions list.

Niiniketo says she now wants a decision to reassure the spa hotel and staff. According to Niiniketo, his shares will now be transferred to Ryokan.

Niiniketo has been a longtime friend of Boris Rotenberg since the early 1990s. The men got acquainted with martial arts in St. Petersburg and Helsinki.

Niinikedo and Rotenberg have previously had joint operations in Finland, which he says he has gradually exited. Niiniketo has previously resigned from the board of Boris Rotenberg’s Riminex company.

According to Niiniketo, contacts with the Rotenberg have been limited in recent years. He says he last received a message from Boris Rotenberg in January. Rotenberg, who turned 65 at the time, posted a video of his judo training, which Niiniketo posted on his own Twitter account, inviting Rotenberg as a friend.

Niiniketo says he condemns Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The same message is repeated on the Långvik Spa website.

“Ryokan oy condemns the attack on Ukraine and hopes for a speedy diplomatic solution to ease tensions,” the website said.

Niiniketo owns almost half of the Ryokan that runs the spa business. Another major owner of Ryokan is a business consultant Martti Ahto.

Ahto also has a long-term relationship with the Rotenberg.

He is the son of Boris Rotenberg Roman Rotenberg schoolmate and has long been involved in Rotenberg’s business in Finland.

In Kirkkonummi In 2014–2015, several ownership arrangements were made at the Långvik Spa.

After being on the U.S. Crimean sanctions list, brothers Boris Rotenberg and Arkadi Rotenberg sold the spa hotel business to Roman Rotenberg.

The following year, the United States felt Roman Rotenberg had helped his father and uncle circumvent sanctions. He was also placed on the sanctions list.

After that, the spa business was sold to Ryokan for one euro. The property remained the property of the Rotenberg company.

HS said March 9, that the National Board of Patents and Registration (NBPR) had liquidated the Rotenberg company that owned the Långvik property as early as 2020 because it had not submitted its financial statements to the NBPR.

The municipality of Kirkkonummi has also tried to find out the ownership of the spa property after the start of the war in Ukraine and the tightening of sanctions. The municipality came to the same conclusion as HS: the company had left the register.

Although Sanctions against Roman Rotenberg, who owned the spa, were imposed in the United States in 2015, making his business more difficult elsewhere.

In Finland, too, banks usually refuse to handle the financial transactions of a sanctioned person or company.

The ryokan took over the costs of maintaining the Långvik property, which are normally borne by the property owner.

On the other hand, Ryokan did not pay rent to the Rotenberge for hotel property in order to avoid money transactions with the sanctioned entity. Ryokan could have been threatened with a US sanctions list.

In order to secure its backing, Ryokan asked the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 2015 to prepare a document stating that the company, its shareholders or beneficiaries are not subject to sanctions.

Boris Rotenberg and his son Roman Rotenberg are citizens of both Russia and Finland. The family lived in Finland in the 1990s.

Rotenberg ‘s business in Russia took off after Vladimir from Putin became president in 2000. Today, they have billions in assets.

Boris and Arkadi Rotenberg are Putin’s childhood friends from judo circles.

Sanctions were imposed on businessmen close to Putin after Russia occupied Crimea in 2014. Sanctions were extended when Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Boris, Arkadi and Roman Rotenberg, as well as other family members, are on the U.S. and British sanctions list. Arkadi Rotenberg is also subject to EU sanctions.

Read more: Oligarchs’ spa companies disappear – Russia sanctions force Kirkkonummi municipality to investigate Långvik’s holdings

Read more: Ministry of Foreign Affairs admits to helping Långvik Spa, established by oligarchs, with sanctions