Finland may reciprocate with a land sales ban

Finnish parliamentarians bring forward a legal bill to ban sales of property for non-EU citizens.

The legal initiative primarily targets the Russians buying property on the territory of Finland.

Today, Finland is to consider a legislative initiative that is to impose a complete ban on the purchase of real estate in Finland for all non-EU citizens. If adopted, the bill will also concern the Russians. However, local MPs do not conceal the fact that the law is directed primarily against the Russian citizens.

The initiative of 22 lawmakers who prepared the draft document is explained by the fact that purchase deals are done by ‘solvent’ Russians who ‘negatively affect’ local living costs and make prices inaccessible for the Finns, reports Yle.

Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee, Pertti Salolainen, adds that some deals raise money laundering concerns.

Besides, the Finnish parliamentarians focus on legal parity that ceased to exist since early 2011 when Dmitry Medvedev had banned sales of land in the border areas of Russia. Accordingly, the Russians can buy land plots in Finland, while vast areas of Russian lands (hardly within the border zone sometimes) are out of foreign buyers’ reach.
 
Photo: Parliament of Finland. Wiki Media