Orpo met with representatives of Turku arena project — YLE News
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo met with representatives of the multipurpose arena project in Turku in early 2025. The total cost of the project is estimated at about €500 million. As YLE News reports, this follows from the public lobbying register of Finland’s National Audit Office.
At the meeting, Orpo was presented with the complex project and solutions for a “smart arena.” Representatives of Turun Ratapihan Kehitys Oy also met with the prime minister’s special adviser on economic policy, Mikko Marttikala, and the deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Petri Peltonen. In addition, the parties exchanged correspondence, and in early 2026 Orpo spoke with project representatives by phone.
Lobbying data were entered at the end of August
The company implementing the project submitted information on lobbying contacts to the register only at the end of August, following broad public discussion of lobbying related to another arena project, Garden Helsinki. Responsibility for entering data into the register lies with the lobbyist.
Finland’s Prime Minister’s Office declined to provide YLE News with information on correspondence and meetings between representatives of Turun Ratapihan Kehitys Oy and ministers or their advisers. It said it had found no official documents falling within the office’s area of responsibility. The office considers ministers’ calendars to be internal working materials.
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Project financing
The Turku arena has not yet received state funding. Turun Ratapihan Kehitys and Garden Helsinki applied for state support from Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, but both projects were rejected. Turun Ratapihan Kehitys’ latest application was rejected because the documents were incomplete and financing planning had not been finalized.
The Arkki ja Arkadia plan envisions the construction on the site of Turku’s former railway yard of a multipurpose arena, a hotel, parking facilities, and the Arkadia complex with gaming worlds and virtual technologies. The first phase is estimated at about €200 million, while the total cost is €500 million. The city of Turku purchased a plot of about 10 hectares from VR in 2023 and gave Turun Ratapihan Kehitys until the end of the year to raise funds to buy it for more than €42 million.
Orpo, who is also a member of Turku City Council, told YLE News in August that he hopes the project will move forward and views it primarily as an economic development project rather than merely an arena.
