Ahti Vilppula

Ahti Vilppula (born October 1959 or 17 July 1959 ) is a Finnish businessman. Born in Finland, Vilppula lives abroad but has financial interests in his native country. Vilppula started exporting between the West and the then USSR in Spain. He moved to Brussels when the Soviet Union collapsed. Some companies with which Vilppula is involved have attracted the interest of financial regulators in Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.

Together with Kai Mäkelä he has over the current decade been a major shareholder in companies such as Saunalahti, Alma Media, Talentum, and Ruukki Group. Vilppula sold a 10 percent stake in Ruukki Group in the Spring of 2008 to the Russian bank VTB. on 16 December 2019; he resigned on 13 May 2020.

Elections

Vilppula owned the company Helsingin Mekaanikontalo and in 2007 paid €10,000 in parliamentary elections donations to the National Coalition Party (Eheän Suomen Tuki ry), and to Kymenlaakson Talousseura - in other words to ministers Paula Lehtomäki, Jyrki Katainen, and Jyri Häkämies. All of those who were in receipt of campaign finance funding from Vilppula's company Mekaanikontalo became ministers in Prime Minister Vanhanen's government. The politicians were embarrassingly unaware of their largest backers.

Lehtomäki, then the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development received €10,000 for the March 2007 elections from Ruukki Group and another 10,000 from Vilppula's Mekaanikontalo.

Ruukki Group has also been a major donor for elections.