Welcome to yet another interesting piece of Finnish real estate history. This here is the Zsar Outlet Village built right next to the border with Russia and opened in 2018. Its aim was to serve rich Russian tourists, who were a mainstay in Southeastern Finland back then.
It looks like a historical city, but it is just a replica. There’s a modern shopping center behind those walls.
And as you can already guess, the business model, which seemed good back in 2018 soon ran into spectacular trouble. First came the covid pandemic, which closed the border. Then Russia decided to invade Ukraine, which made the border even more shut. The company running the mall went into receivership already back in 2020, but was kept open. Less than half of the spaces were occupied in the summer of 2021.
The place was declared bankrupt in October 2022 with debts of more than 20 million. It was put up for sale.
As the place is controlled by the receiver, it is well guarded. I didn’t expect to find a way in, but still decided to document this strange monument.
And indeed the gates were well shut.
Next to the old facades was a parking lot with all kinds of modern things like electric vehicle chargers.
There are really no buildings like this in Finland. The place has entirely been designed to Russian taste.
The view from another locked gate. As I guessed, it was all shut.
The mall was auctioned in 2024. A buyer was found, but they never paid the agreed fee and so another auction was made. This time there was a German-Russian buyer, who had ties to Russian oligarchs and president Putin. It is now up to the security authorities to decide, if a permission to sell can be obtained.