Russia sanctions put Miley Cyrus concert in limbo

US sanctions against Russia may prevent Miley Cyrus and Justin Timberlake from performing at sellout concerts in Finland later this year because of the venue’s Russian ownership, the Financial Times reported. Arena Events OY, the Finnish holding company that owns Hartwell Arena in Helsinki, is controlled by oil trader Gennady Timchenko, and billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, all three of whom are on the US sanctions list.

Last month, the White House imposed sanctions on around 20 individuals from President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Those on the list will be unable to make dollar transactions, will have any US assets frozen and will be banned from doing business in the US.

Live National Entertainment, the US promoter that booked Timberlake’s concert in May and Cyrus’s in June, may have to seek special dispensation from the US Treasury to avoid cancelling the events. Anthony Woolich, a partner at London law firm Holman Fenwich Willan, said permission for the concerts would depend on whether the financial transactions for the venue had taken place before sanctions were imposed. A spokesperson from Live Nation said: “We are currently reviewing our portfolio and we will work to ensure the US sanctions against the identified Russians are upheld.”