Russian companies have been interested for several years in an industrial demolition building located in the easternmost municipality of Finland, Ilomantsi, writes YLE.
It all started more than ten years ago when a Russian company decided to buy a large property near the city center, which was then functioning as a sturgeon caviar factory.
The money for the purchase came from Russian oligarchs – in particular, from the company of Alexander Mamut.
Finnish banks refused to finance the venture, deeming it risky. The Elykeskus Center for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, however, allocated more than 3 million euros to the company, of which 1.2 million were transferred to the company’s account.
The factory filed for bankruptcy in 2015, having never started caviar production.
Investment company Mamuta sold its debt to a Russian collection company whose CEO was sentenced last year to prison in Russia for robbery.
The collection company did not respond to inquiries about the bankruptcy for years, so the building sat empty for years.
Now a big tech company is planned in a partially destroyed building. This time the entrepreneur is a former Russian politician.
Entrepreneur: We will produce free electricity
The building was bought by the Finnish company Tornado Logistics Oy. Its head is Russian Oleg Fokin.
Fokin is the former chairman of the Petrozavodsk City Duma. In 2015, he was found guilty of fraud in Russia after receiving an illegal VAT refund.
Fokin’s machinations cost the Russian state more than 6.3 million rubles, or about 60,000 euros at the current exchange rate.
Fokin served six months in prison, after which he pleaded guilty and voluntarily returned the embezzled money.
Fokin moved to Finland five years ago. He acquired half of Tornado Logistics Oy. The company was small, but according to the latest financial reports, its turnover is over 2 million euros.
The company claims to be a wholesaler of bioenergy and wood.
Fokine tells Yle that their engineer invented an electric generator which he claims produces electricity for free.
Fokin: ‘Teslas’ Elon Musk will become useless
The Finnish Patent and Registration Office confirmed to Yle that Fokin’s company applied for the patent in December. A decision on the patent has not yet been made.
Fokin says that within a month he will start building a prototype generator set in Pyhtää, where his partner owns another business. Great business plans.
“In the future, there will no longer be a need to charge electric vehicles. If our device works, Elon Musk’s machines will become useless,” he says.
The generator developed by the company uses piezo materials to generate electricity. Piezoelectricity means the ability to generate an electrical voltage or charge when mechanically acted upon.
The contractor plans to start repairing the Ilomantsi plant this summer. In the future, he intends to move generator production to Ilomantsi.
Source: delfi
