The beverage company hopes that it can be involved in the operation of the hall, if the values meet with the owners.
Iltalehti reported in October that the shops of the former Hartwall Arena, i.e. the current Helsinki Hall, are close by.
Russian-Finns, those on the banned list, exercise voting power in the holding company Gennady Timchenko and Roman Rotenberg. Because of the men in question, no event organizer wants to use the hall, so shops have to be created if the arena in Helsinki’s Paraatipaikai is ever going to be used again.
When the store is created, an interesting question is what the name of the hall will be. Could the “former Hartwall arena” become the Hartwall arena again?
Iltalehti asked Hartwall if the company could consider cooperating with the hall company again after possible deals.
The beverage company is interested in at least some level of cooperation.
– We canceled the marketing agreement because of Russia’s military actions, and because part of the arena was owned by Russians who are on international sanctions lists, CEO of Hartwall Kalle Järvinen responded to IL via email.
– We have nothing against the hall itself, on the contrary. We hope that a solution to the hall’s situation will be found and that we can be there to create experiences in the future as well, as long as the ownership of the hall is with partners who act according to our values.
On the side of the multi-purpose arena, discoloration can be distinguished in the places where Hartwall’s signs were. Tiina Somerpuro
“Completely quiet”
Hartwall terminated the marketing contract with Helsinki Halli oy in March, i.e. shortly after Russia had expanded its war of aggression in Ukraine.
Hartwall’s signs were torn from the side of the hall.
– Since then, the hall has been completely quiet, including for us, says Järvinen.
Iltalehti also asked Hartwall for details about the old marketing agreement with the hall company.
However, the CEO did not comment on the value of the old contract or whether the spring termination involved a monetary fine in one direction or the other.
Being the title sponsor of big arenas is not something small companies do.
Hartwall operates with a turnover of more than 350 million. The operating result has been over 80 million annually.
The title sponsor of the Nokia Arena in Tampere is of course in a class of its own. The network equipment manufacturer’s turnover in 2021 was more than 22 billion euros.
Hartwall is the beverage partner of the Nokia Arena.