Centre Party silent about major contributor

Nova Group paid EUR 125,000 for seminar tickets

Jarmo Korhonen

print this

The Nova Group real estate service company is reported to have given considerable financial support to the Centre Party. According to a television news story aired by MTV3 on Thursday, the company donated about EUR 125,000 to the Centre Party fund-raising association Menestyvä Suomi in advance of the 2007 Parliamentary elections. The story is based on a confidential Nova Group memo leaked to MTV3.
      A year ago it was revealed that Nova Group had contributed about EUR 145,000 to another association, Kehittyvien Maakuntien Suomi (KMS).
     
It is not actually illegal for companies to help finance political activities. The main reason for the controversy is that several MPs failed to disclose contributions that they had received, and that the fund-raising association had not reported on its activities.
      The situation is difficult for the Centre Party, which initially denied any direct contacts with KMS. Party secretary Jarmo Korhonen later had to admit that the association had been established in the Centre Party’s offices, and that the founding papers were drawn up by the party’s communications chief Lasse Kontiola at Korhonen’s request.
      It also emerged that Kontiola had access to KMS’s bank accounts, and that he had moved EUR 120,000 of the association’s money to candidates of several parties standing in the 2007 Parliamentary elections.
     
A common factor between the KMS controversy and the most recent one is Nova Group CEO Tapani Yli-Saunamäki. Korhonen has previously said that KMS was Yli-Saunamäki’s idea. Now it has come out that the company that he runs has also given direct support to the Centre Party worth EUR 125,000.
      Centre Party chairman and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen did not want to comment on the matter on Thursday, because the party had agreed that only the party secretary would issue comments at this stage.
     
Korhonen told Helsingin Sanomat on Thursday evening that the EUR 125,000 is part of a sum of money worth EUR 500,000 whose sources were not itemised.
      Korhonen says that Nova Group bought tickets to three fund-raising seminars, and either distributed them to business partners or kept them itself.
      He also pointed out that other parties had not itemised their sources of finance.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  CEO of Nova Group claims Centre supports real estate company in zoning issue (30.5.2008)
  Prime Minister warns of political crisis stemming from election campaign money affair (21.5.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat