The holdings of Team Jokerit Oy were hidden for months, but now the company has been transferred to the name of the son of the former owner of the Jokers, Hjallis Harkimo.
4.11. 16:16•Updated 4.11. 16:17
The background company planning the new arrival of the ice hockey team Jokers is one hundred percent Joel Harkimon owned, can be seen from the documents filed in the trade register.
reached Joel Harkimon, who did not want to comment on the matter.
Joel Harkimo is the former owner of Jokerites, a member of parliament Hjallis Harkimon son. Joel Harkimo is also a member of the Helsinki City Council. He represents the Liike Nyt party founded by his father.
The Helsinki-based law firm I&O Partners Oy founded Team Jokerit Oy in March 2022 under the name Ahold VI Oy. When it was founded, two partners of the law firm were listed as its owners. This is often done when a law firm establishes a ready-made company for its clients.
In September 2022, the company changed its name to Team Jokerit Oy. In September, asked I&O Partners to deliver the list of Team Jokers’ shareholders, but the request was not agreed to. According to the Companies Act, the list of shareholders is a public document.
However, the background company of the Jokers has submitted the minutes of the general meeting to the trade register. According to it, Joel Harkimo owns one hundred percent of the company. Until now, Joel Harkimo has denied being the front of the project.
Hjallis Harkimo sold the Jokers to the Russians
In 2014, the Jokerit moved to play in the Russian-led KHL league after Hjallis Harkimo had sold his share in the former Hartwall Areena, i.e. the current Helsinki Hall, as well as his holdings in the Jokers to Russian-Finnish oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and to the Rotenberg family. The oligarchs belong to the Russian presidentVladimir Putin close circle.
Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg are still Helsinki Hall’s largest shareholders. However, Timchenko’s holdings in the building company have been seized due to EU sanctions against Russia. The authorities have also interfered with Roman Rotenberg’s holdings in Finland.
Read also: Analysis: MOT traced Hartwall Arena owner’s millions – money comes from Putin’s men
Due to sanctions, the multi-purpose arena in Helsinki’s Keski-Pasila has been empty since February.
In 2019, Harkimo sold the rest of his holdings in Jokers to a former ice hockey player For Jari Kurri. In recent years, Jokerite’s activities were financed by Norilsk Nickel Oy, whose largest owner is the richest man in Russia by Vladimir Potan.
The Jokerit’s time in the KHL ended after Russia started a large-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. The Jokerit has been willing to return to the domestic SM league. There has also been interest in continuing the operation Teemu Selänten led by the investor group, with which Jokerit Ry, which owns the Jokerite brand, could not reach an agreement.
The return of the Jokers to the SM League has been talked about for a long time, but there is still a lack of concrete information regarding it.
On September 1, the Norwegian Ice Hockey Championship stated that it will not accept license applications from outside the league for the 2023–24 season.
– Now it’s simply time to calm down the situation. The shareholders consider that, under the prevailing circumstances, they have a need and an obligation to protect the interests of both the League and Finnish top ice hockey, the chairman of the board of the SM League Heikki Hiltunen said at the time.
According to Hiltunen, the league has not received anything concrete from the Jokers regarding the application for a league license. SM liiga originally set the end of October as the deadline for applying for a league license.
Among the Mestis clubs, Kiekko-Espoo is aiming for the main league for the 2024–25 season, and Joensuu’s Kiekko-Poj also has league aspirations.