Finnish entrepreneur supplied trucks and trailers to Russia, jailed for violating sanctions

A Finnish court found an entrepreneur guilty of exporting trucks and trailers to neighbouring Russia in violation of European sanctions on Wednesday, sentencing him to three years and eight months in prison.

Risto Riihimaki’s company, registered in the town of Lappeenranta near Finland’s border with Russia, exported 164 trucks and trailers in 2022 and 2023 in breach of EU sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Transit via Russia was allowed under the sanctions at the time and the company had declared that the vehicles were being exported to Kazakhstan or Turkey via Russia.

But in reality they were customs cleared into Russia by a company importing and reselling trucks, the South Karelia district court found.

According to Finnish Customs, the imported trucks and trailers were worth around €17 million.

The court found Riihimaki guilty of an "aggravated regulation offence" and said the act was "exceptional in its nature and scope."

In addition to the prison sentence, Riihimaki and his company were ordered to forfeit the proceeds of the crime, €608,275, as well as €6 million euros, the value of the property involved, to the state.

The court also fined the company €10,000.

Riihimaki, who has been held in custody since mid-March, denied he had committed a crime and said he had been deceived.

The court decision can be appealed, which would delay his sentence.

Finland’s 1,340-kilometre border with Russia has been closed since December 2023 after the arrival of around 1,000 migrants without visas.