We have closed our online shop and all business at Holvi today as they do not allow non-ETA members on the board of associations and companies, even though IPS is registered in Finland, has a special permission for foreigners, and normal bank accounts at other institutes.
This is outraging, especially as they did not even reply to our letter to the CEO. Five days left to their deadline, with midsummer coming, so of course we had to react first. We will inform you once our new shop is up and running.
#holvi #racism #welcometofinland #finland #associations #yhdistykset #whomtoavoidwhenmakingbusiness
Letter to the CEO:
Jyväskylä 20 May 2024
Holvi Payment Services Oy
CEO Tuomas Toivonen
Kaikukatu 2 C
00530 Helsinki
Finland
RECLAMATION Y 1074181-4
Dear Madams and Sirs,
hereby we strongly protest against the decision to close the Holvi account of the International Peatland Society (Kansainvälinen Suoyhdistys ry).
We have been a customer since 2018 and fulfil all legal obligations in Finland, including registration as an association with PRH, and a permission for foreign board members and chairs since 1997 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as the submission of all necessary documentation since we changed our account at Holvi from small business to association.
The fact that our Executive Board contains two non-EEA persons of 11 board members, namely from Canada and China, is not opposing any Finnish or international law. This corresponds to 18% only and thus does have little effect on the decisions made by the association. In addition, the IPS has always only used the web shop capacities of Holvi and not any credit cards or other instruments that would cause a potential risk to your operations. We do not see how these persons could possibly pose a threat to your company.
A change of our online shop with close to 100 products – mainly scientific books and other publications – causes major work for the single employee we have in Finland, at least 2-3 weeks of highly paid professional working hours and/or external consultation services.
We therefore request that the services are maintained also after 24 of June or a compensation of €2000 is being paid to cover relevant costs.
Sincerely
International Peatland Society
Executive Board
Marko Pomerants
President
Susann Warnecke
Secretary General
Attachments
statutes, permission, registry entry