Rydman questions TikTok data centre plan over security concerns

By admin On May 8, 2025

Minister Rydman is concerned about TikTok data centre. Photo: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva

Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman has called for a reassessment of plans to build a large data centre in Kouvola, southeast Finland, for social media platform TikTok.

The project, announced earlier this week, is set to become a billion-euro investment with a scheduled completion date in late 2026. The centre’s primary user would be TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The facility will be developed by Finnish real estate firm Hyperco.

Rydman said on Thursday that the government only learned late in the process that TikTok would be the data centre’s main client. He urged the developers to reconsider their partnership.

“I would at least hope that the real estate development company reflects once more on whether TikTok really needs to be the client,” Rydman said. “There is demand for data centres in Finland, and the customer need not necessarily be this company.”

Rydman cited data security and geopolitical factors. The TikTok app is banned from official Finnish government and parliamentary devices over cybersecurity concerns. The United States and European Union have also raised concerns about the app’s handling of user data.

Last week, the EU fined TikTok €530 million for data privacy violations.

Rydman described current global tensions as a reason not to overlook ownership issues in infrastructure projects.

“These dimensions cannot be ignored,” he said.

Further scrutiny has fallen on the project following revelations about its financial backers. One of the key figures behind the development is Hussain Sajwani, a billionaire from the United Arab Emirates known for his past business ties to Donald Trump and Russian state ventures.

Sajwani, who made his fortune in Dubai real estate, partnered with the Trump Organisation in 2012 on a luxury golf resort. He met Trump again in April this year at the White House. In January, Trump announced Sajwani’s intention to invest €20 billion in data centres across the US.

Sajwani’s company owns Hyperco through a UK-based firm, Astral Star Holding Company Limited. Public records list Sajwani as the sole owner. However, the structure behind the Kouvola data centre is more complex. The city sold the development site to a separate firm, Hyperco Fin Holdco 1, in which Sajwani owns a 26.6 percent stake. One other known shareholder is a Chinese citizen in his late fifties. The rest of the ownership remains unclear.

Mayor of Kouvola Marita Toikka said the city was aware of Sajwani’s role when approving the project but said it did not influence the decision.

“The City is responsible for planning, permitting, and land sales. We evaluate companies based on those roles. Ownership structures are for the company to manage,” Toikka told Yle.

Toikka added that broader concerns about TikTok’s global operations were not part of the City’s evaluation process.

“We do not speculate on such questions, because we cannot affect them,” she said. “The experts disagree on TikTok’s data security, and it’s difficult to reach a clear conclusion. It is one platform among many.”

The land deal with Hyperco covers a 12.5-hectare plot, with a second similar-sized area agreed upon in principle to allow for future expansion. The value of the total land transactions is under €2 million.

Sajwani has previously expressed support for Russian capital inflows into Dubai, which has become a hub for Russian money since the war in Ukraine. In 2023, he welcomed “clean” Russian investments despite Western sanctions.

Sajwani’s past includes a stint on Canada’s sanctions list between 2011 and 2014 over suspected corruption. In 2021, an Egyptian court sentenced him in absentia to five years in prison for irregularities in a real estate deal. He dismissed the ruling as politically motivated.

Investigative reports by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) also state that Sajwani attempted to obtain citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis, a Caribbean country offering passports to investors. His application was initially denied.

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi