Jari Kurri scissors the umbilical cord for Russia, but the big question is whether the disc hero of the 80’s and 90’s has already caused too much damage to his reputation, writes Lassi Kuisma.
Jari Kurri tries to restore confidence in himself and the fool logo. Mauri Ratilainen / AOP
The Jokers announced on Wednesday that they would try to make a return to the Finnish Ice Hockey League for the period 2023–24.
Even earlier, it was unclear not only what the Jokers were going to do but also under whose leadership. Jari Kurri, who has been killed during the Joker’s sad KHL trip, is remaining in the club’s leadership due to the Joker’s recent departure. The press release said new owners are being sought in Kurrin chest. Of course, Kurri can also remain a minority owner.
According to Iltalehti’s report, the Jokerit is at least on the way to a more transparent and credible arrangement. The final ownership arrangements, seats on the Board of Directors and the Articles of Association will later become public.
These are presumably also thoroughly investigated by the Finnish Hockey League in a warm office, because the Finnish main series does not want the same reputation damage that Hjallis Harkimo and Jari Kurri did to the narrator logo. In recent years, Jari Kurri stood as the face of the Jokers, when in reality millions only moved between the Russian Nornickel and Hjallikse and the Nornickel and the Jokers.
When Harkimo sold the Jokers in 2019, he and Kurri convened a meeting with the media and talked about the arrangements as a piece of wood. That and the years that followed left an ugly imprint.
In the light of recent information, it can be concluded that Kurri still feels a salon-worthy owner for the Jokers. Many disagree.
Jari Kurri, his Finnish “chain buddies” and the Russians once built a dimmer in the background of the Jokers, the purpose of which was to disguise the Russian-funded club as Finnish.
Now that dimmer is dismantled piece by piece. Next, the reader can bring up a flipchart to make it easier to keep up.
According to current information, Kurri owns 100 percent of the Jokers. Or it owns 100% of Jutland oy, which is the parent company in the Jutland group, which includes the Jack Promotions group as a subgroup, to which its parent company Jack Promotions oy and its subsidiary Jokerit Hockey Club oy are merged.
Previously, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta oy owned 40 percent of Jack Promotions oy’s shares in this arrangement. Jack Promotions, on the other hand, is owned by the Jokers. Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta is owned by Norilsk Nickel Holdings Ltd., registered in Cyprus. Eventually, the Jokers were funded by Vladimir Potanin, the owner of the Russian oligarch, Nornickel.
However, that 40 percent has now been transferred to Kurr. This severed one of Russia’s ties.
The chairman of the league, Heikki Hiltunen, rightly commented to Iltalehti earlier that this was a good first step. Other important issues are the transparency of the ownership base and the articles of association.
Everyone can read above whether Kurr’s own arrangement for the Jokers is currently transparent. Changes are required, which are also likely to be promised.
In order for the Jokers to return to the League, it must cut off the umbilical cord for Russia completely. The articles of association mentioned by Hiltunen are also related to Russia’s connections.
Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta’s CEO Joni Hautojärvi has held a board position in both Jack Promotions oy and Jokerit Hockey Club oy.
In addition, it was essential that Jack Promotions’ Articles of Association in practice state that many material decisions relating to the Jokers require the unanimity of the members of the Board.
However, Joni Hautojärvi, CEO of Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta oy, said to Iltalehti on Wednesday that he had resigned from the Board of Directors of Jack Promotions oy and Jokerit Hockey Club oy.
– I have resigned. I will not participate in the board work of either company in the future, Hautojärvi said.
Nornickel financed the Jokers with capital loans of millions and again millions. One question has been whether there will be any ties between Kurr and the Jokers and the Russians.
Hautojärvi told Iltalehti that all capital loans have been written off in the accounts. This is also what the financial statements for 2019 and 2020 show. It seems that in this respect, too, Kurr now has a free hand with regard to the Jokers.