Finland moves to ban real estate transactions by Russians

The government on Thursday submitted a proposal to Parliament for legislation banning foreign real estate acquisitions, said the Ministry of Defence in a press release.

According to the proposal, permits would not be granted to persons whose country of nationality is waging a war of aggression and may pose a threat to Finland's national security.

This ban would also apply to entities who are domiciled in the territory of such a country or owned or influenced by citizens or entities of such a country.

"The objective of this bill is to restrict the possibilities of Russians to buy real estate in Finland. Russia poses a persistent security threat in Europe, and real estate can be exploited to exert hostile influence," said Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen.

He said that the bill was placed to restrict all possible risks to the security of people in Finland.

The introduction of the ban on real estate acquisition would reduce the number of permit applications by people whose country of nationality is covered by the ban. This would free more resources for the processing and scrutiny of applications.

However, the ban would not apply to persons who hold a permanent residence permit of Finland or a long-term resident's EU residence permit granted by Finland.

Such persons would be covered by the current Act on Permit Requirements for Certain Real Estate Acquisitions, and they would be able to buy real estate in Finland, if granted a permit by the Ministry of Defence.

To minimise the risk of dummy purchasers being used to circumvent the ban, the Ministry of Defence could impose an obligation to apply for permit, if it suspects that a dummy is being used. Information exchange between the authorities would also be further intensified.