News of the week in plain Finnish | Saturday 4.7.2026

Helsinki Garden Hall Project

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Topic introduction

This time the topic of the program is the Helsinki Garden Hall project and the state support the project received.

The government decided to allocate tens of millions of euros to the Garden Hall project.

The decision to provide funding has now sparked much debate and criticism. Many people and opposition politicians are wondering why the government gave the hall such a large amount of funding.

We will now tell you more about the support for the Helsinki Garden project.

Aerial view of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium and the ice rink next to it, as well as the surrounding roads and parks.

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The location for the Helsinki Garden multi-purpose arena is next to the ice rink in Töölö. Photo: Ville Maali / Yle

Garden Helsinki

Garden Helsinki is a large private construction project.

In it, private companies want to build a new large event arena in Helsinki.

The government decided to allocate a large sum of money, 35 million euros, to the project.

However, this support is conditional. This means that the state will not pay the money if the construction of the arena does not begin.

Quarrel

The decision has caused controversy because the government granted the grant without the normal formal application.

Finance Ministry officials were also surprised because they did not prepare for such a thing.

In addition, the hall project is supported by many people who have worked in the Coalition Party and who have a lot of power. They have also given the Coalition Party money in the elections.

Criminal law expert Professor Pekka Viljanen says that the decision may involve corruption. Corruption means that friends or acquaintances are given benefits even though they are not allowed to do so.

Illustrative image of Helsinki Garden. Light-colored arena building along the street.

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This is a planning permit. You can see what the finished hall might look like in the picture. Photo: PES-Arkkitehdit

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo

Conservative Prime Minister Petteri Orpo defends the government’s support decision.

Orpo says that the government decided on the support normally during government negotiations.

Orpo says he has not consulted with the project director Jan Vapaavuori.

Orpo justifies his support for the hall project by saying that the new arena is important for all of Finland and that it will help the construction industry, which is having a difficult time.

Opposition and other politicians

The opposition is now demanding a detailed explanation of what really happened in the government negotiations.

Many politicians want to know how the government decided on the money.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says it is good that the Chancellor of Justice is officially investigating the situation.

The Chancellor of Justice is the authority that oversees that the government complies with the law.'

Jan Vapaavuori looks at the camera.

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Jan Vapaavuori, the director of the Helsinki Garden Hall project, has been involved in the Kokokoomus party for a long time. Photo: Matti Myller / Yle

Repetition

The topic of the week’s news was the government support for the Helsinki Garden Hall project.

The government decided to provide 35 million euros in support for the construction of the arena without an official application.

A criminal law expert says there may be corruption involved.

However, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says that the decision was normal, and that the hall project is important for all of Finland.

This was the news of the week in plain Finnish. See you again, bye!