The South Karelia District Court in Finland has for the first time sentenced an entrepreneur who violated European Union sanctions against Russia.
This is reported by the Finnish broadcasting company Yle.
A court has sentenced Risto Riigimäki, CEO of the construction company Idä Liikenteenvälitys IL Oy, to three years and eight months in prison. The entrepreneurʼs company was ordered to pay the state €600 000 in illegally obtained profits. Finland has also confiscated the companyʼs assets worth approximately €6 million.
According to the court, in 2022-2023, Idä Liikenteenvälitys IL Oy exported 164 trucks and trailers to Russia. The documents listed companies registered in Turkey and Kazakhstan as buyers. However, the court found that the equipment entered Russia, and was not simply transported through its territory in transit.
This scheme worked because EU sanctions at the time did not prohibit the transit of goods through Russian territory. The court concluded that Riigimäki played a key role in the purchase of equipment and its transportation from Finland to Russia.
Finland has never before handed down sentences under this article. The maximum penalty for the crime is four years in prison, so the sentence is one of the harshest under the law.
- In June, European Union leaders extended economic sanctions against Russia for another year, a decision that was unanimously approved by 27 votes. The sanctions were first imposed in response to Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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