Finland disallows Putin's friend to build a house near the military training area
Finnish authorities have banned businessman Boris Rotenberg, who is close to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, from building a residential real estate near the military training ground in the Finnish city of Hanko, reports the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper.
In 2016, the Environment Commission allowed Rotenberg to build a 350 square meters guesthouse in the specified location. The Finnish defense forces appealed this decision in court.
The first complaint of the military department, filed in the fall of 2017, was rejected. Only in November 2018, the Helsinki Administrative Court overturned the permission of the commission. The court considered that the already existing houses in the district are not a valid reason to give out new building permits. Rothenberg’s neighbors told the publication that they are already accustomed to the sounds of explosions and fire.
Boris Rotenberg was included in the United States sanctions lists but is not under the restrictions in the European Union because of his Finnish citizenship. At the same time, the authors of the investigation noted that in a month’s time, after the European sanctions' list revision, Boris Rotenberg may be included in this list.