EU Sanctions Against Moscow Not Applicable To Russia's Housing In Finland - Authorities

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2023) The Finnish Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the EU sanctions against Moscow should not affect housing owned by the Russian Embassy and Consulate in Finland, given the insignificant share of Russian ownership in housing cooperatives.

Earlier in the week, local media reported difficulties in a housing cooperative in central Helsinki in one of the apartments which is in Russian ownership. Banks reportedly refused to issue loans to the cooperative concerned, sparking discontent among residents of the housing cooperative.

"The foreign ministry believes that the sanctions do not prevent the provision of a loan to a housing company, of which the Russian Federation is a partnership member. The foreign ministry is not aware of a situation when the property or control of the Russian Federation in a housing company would be so large that it would be impossible to provide a loan due to EU sanctions against Russia," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said however, that in order to determine whether sanctions would be applied, it was necessary to take into account the share of Russia-owned property in each specific case.

The Russian Embassy and consulates in Finland do not fall under the system of personal and collective EU sanctions against Moscow, the ministry added.

Western countries rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Russia after it launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The bloc has already approved nine packages of sanctions against Moscow.