There has been political backlash to the appointment of Lassi Noponen, a special adviser to Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns), as Director General of Business Finland.
Business Finland is a state-owned business funding agency, which comes under the remit of Rydman's ministry. The agency distributed more than 700 million euros in public funding last year alone.
Yle understands that Rydman nominated Noponen for the Business Finland post.
National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma — a colleague of Rydman's within Finland's four-party coalition government — criticised the appointment in an interview with newspaper Ilta-Sanomat.
"This simply doesn't look good," Kauma told IS. "When a politician appoints a person to a position of this magnitude, there should be an overwhelmingly clear justification. It is not enough to barely meet the criteria. If you appoint a person, then they have to be very clearly better so that the matter can stand up to scrutiny."
Tabloid Iltalehti meanwhile reported that there is widespread discomfort within the National Coalition Party about Noponen's appointment.
In the same article, Ryman told the newspaper that Noponen and two other candidates made it to the final round of recruiting for the position. Yle understands there were originally 30 applicants.
Rydman had served as an NCP MP since 2015, before defecting to the Finns Party in 2023 following the fallout over a Helsingin Sanomat article alleging he used his political position to harass young women.
Rydman: Appointment not political
In a phone call with Yle, Rydman denied that the appointment was political, saying that Noponen was the strongest candidate because of his business background and leadership experience.
Noponen has worked as Rydman's special adviser since August last year, with his duties including corporate financing and helping Finnish companies enter international markets.
Prior to taking up this role, he worked for over 20 years in the financial services sector and as an entrepreneur.
Noponen also stood for election in Helsinki as an independent candidate, but on the Finns Party ticket, in the 2021 municipal elections. He failed to secure enough votes to get elected.
Helsingin Sanomat reported earlier this year that Noponen worked for years as the chair of the board of a company that received serious reprimands from an auditor.
Noponen is due to take up the reins at Business Finland on 1 September for a period of five years.
