The interest rate pandemic drove Pihkur, which had been operating in Viitasaari for more than 50 years, into trouble. The entrepreneur is looking for a new owner for the property and business.
Managing Director Hanna Virtanen took over the traditional Hotel Pihkuri in 2003.
Pihkuri has been developed as an event venue, and the hotel underwent a major renovation just before the pandemic in 2019.
In the first interest rate year 2020, the hotel-restaurant’s turnover dropped by EUR 300 000, Virtanen says. He says the company received about €8,000 in subsidies from society during the interest rate years.
– It didn’t even pay the electricity bill, says Virtanen.
According to Virtanen, after difficult years, the hotel’s sales have returned to the pre-coronavirus level.
– In a normal situation, we would now make a good result, he states.
However, according to him, alleviating the debt burden accumulated during the Corona era is \”pretty much impossible\ when at the same time all prices are rising and inflation is raging.
Hotel Pihkuri has been for sale for a long time, and according to Virtanen, negotiations are currently underway with a potential buyer.
The hotel property and its business are for sale, the indebted company will remain in Virtanen’s ownership. His goal is to get into corporate restructuring and get a three-year repayment program for the debts.
Hanna Virtanen says that the sale of the hotel would have been ahead even without financial problems, as she currently lives in southern Finland.
– Without the corona, Pihkuri would have already been sold, he believes.