Dozens of urban routes across Finland could be at risk – big bus company has problems in several cities

Vekka Group has no record of payment defaults, but there are concerns about the continuity of its operations. Different cities are preparing for problems in their operations.

Six cities are facing the fate of their public transport systems because of the difficulties of the Vekka Group.

Yle found out what kind of problems Vekka Group is facing in Kajaani, Tampere, Lahti, Hämeenlinna, Riihimäki and Vaasa.

Debt from rental buses in Tampere

In Tampere, Vekka Group has accumulated debts. Last year, EUR 85 000 of this debt was incurred for buses hired from Tampere City Transport. The company paid off its debts when they were threatened with withholding from transport fares.

Veka has an extensive agreement with the city of Tampere. The city has not made any complaints, but minor contract violations occur every month, for example due to unwashed buses.

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Lahti’s travelling library van will be temporarily replaced by a van

The City Library will start circulating the school, kindergarten and evening routes with an electric van today, Tuesday.

A replacement has been found for the Lahti library van Saaga, which was temporarily taken out of service due to malfunctions, the City of Lahti informs.

The Lahti City Library will offer a temporary library van service on school, day care and evening routes from today.

The electric van will circulate the routes according to the announced timetable. On the evening routes, the van will deliver materials reserved by customers, as well as a small number of adult novelty items and other materials for adults and children to borrow.

Material reservations for the library car can be made normally through the Lastu online library.

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The former and current owners of Lehtimäen Liikenteen, part of the Vekka Group, settle their disputes in court

The former owner’s company owes at least a hundred thousand euros to Lehtimäki Transport. Lehtimäki Transport denies that it is in debt.

Vekka Group acquired Lehtimäen Liikente in autumn 2022.

According to the application, Lehtimäen Liikente has rent arrears and other unpaid invoices of at least EUR 100,000 to the former owner’s company, Lehtimäen Matkat oy.

Lehtimäen Matkat demands the termination of the lease and eviction to Lehtimäen Transport.

Lehtimäki Matkat oy owns the Helsinki bus park, from which Lehtimäki transport has rented facilities and washing equipment.

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Street maintenance projects in the Gulf have already failed in three areas

Maintenance contracts for the northern and central areas are about to be put out to tender. A difficult winter brought the contracting company for the northern area a bill of millions.

The City of Lahti and Viherpalvelut Hyvönen oy have terminated the contract for the maintenance of the northern area of Lahti. Viherpalvelut Hyvönen was to manage the contract until 2028.

The decision to terminate the contract was taken because the financial statements for the first year of management resulted in a heavy operating loss for the company. The contractor will have to pay the city more than €1.2 million.

The city and the company have now negotiated payment arrangements, which will be implemented in five instalments. The agreement also includes a contract termination agreement by mutual agreement.

The maintenance contract is managed in such a way that after the maintenance year, the financial statements are drawn up. Realized costs are compared to the agreed target price. If the difference is negative, there is a business loss. The loss is split between the city and the contractor in half up to the ceiling price. The part exceeding the ceiling price is paid by the contractor.

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Expert amazed by Pelicans’ cryptic press release – “The team needs a top professional coach”

Behind the Pelicans bench in this situation you will see Jussi Taipale, Tony Virta and Toni Pasuri, reads the club’s press release. The expert does not believe that a head coach will be found among the three.

According to the Lahti-based club, Yli-Junnila will continue to work for the company as a coach, who will have project-based tasks during the contract periods 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

Pelicans say they have discussed the matter with Yli-Junnila verbally, but for the time being Yli-Junnila has rejected the relocation as per the contract.

– If you think about the role of head coach Yli-Junnila, and if the head coach is relieved of his duties, his motivation to continue in another, smaller role and refuse it is completely understandable.

– I’ve never seen something like this, where they are transferred to some project-based tasks, unless it has been mutually agreed upon, Nättinen says.

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Pelicans have relieved Yli-Junnila of his head coaching responsibilities

The Lahti Pelicans ice hockey league team announces changes to its coaching staff.

According to the club, Yli-Junnila will continue to work for the company as a coach, performing project-based tasks during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 contract periods.

The Pelicans have discussed the matter with Yli-Junnila verbally today, but Yli-Junnila has tentatively rejected the contractually agreed relocation.

Pelicans are currently 14th in the league. They have won 15 of their 42 games in regulation time.

*Update at 16:28: Added information that Yli-Junnila initially rejected the contract for relocation.*

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LUT University’s Civil and Municipal Engineering education delayed

LUT University is still waiting for a decision from the Ministry to start the training. The funding is in place, only the permit is missing.

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology’s civil engineering programme will start in 2027 at the earliest, if the Ministry of Education grants permission.

LUT University hoped that the Ministry would make its decision last year so that the training could start in autumn next year. The delay in the decision means that LUT will not have time to recruit the necessary staff or market the training for autumn 2026.

If the Minister were to take a decision now, early in the year, the university would not be able to start training until 2027 at the earliest. Hiring staff will take time. In addition, the university will need to market the start of training well in advance.

– We have 10 million euros of jam in use, so if the ministry allows, the new training will start in Lahti, says Saksa.

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Social work professorship for the Päijät-Häme welfare region – social workers in short supply

The Professor of Working Life in Social Work works half of her working hours in the Päijät-Häme welfare area and half at the University of Helsinki.

The Päijät-Häme Welfare Region is to have a professor of social work. The temporary professor of working life in social work will start work at the beginning of March next year.

The University of Helsinki invites a person with a doctorate in political science from Päijät-Häme to apply for the position. The Professor of Working Life would work half of her/his working time in Päijät-Häme and half at the University of Helsinki.

The annual salary costs of the post are EUR 110 000, half of which, or EUR 55 000, comes from the Päijät-Häme welfare region. The City of Lahti has also committed €20 000 per year as a contributor.

With the dual role of social work working life professor, cooperation related to teaching and research is also intensified.

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Pelicans’ striker suspended for knee fouling

According to the Disciplinary Committee, Miro Väänänen of Pelicans has recklessly endangered an opponent with his tackle in Saturday’s game.

According to the disciplinary team, before the tackle Väänänen pushed his right knee forward. In the tackle, Väänänen’s knee hits a TPS player and Väänänen does not hit his opponent with his shoulder.

For the reasons stated above, the Disciplinary Committee saw that Väänänen’s tackle was a knee tackle in accordance with the rule book.

Väänänen will be sidelined for Pelicans’ back-to-back games against KooKoo on Friday and Saturday.

Read the full report on the SM league website.

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HäSa: Two former directors are taking bus company Vekka Group to court

Vekka Group is accused of, among other things, unpaid wages and holiday pay.

Last October, Tomi Vasiliev filed a lawsuit against Vekka Group for termination of his employment.

Vekka had terminated his contract at the beginning of 2024. Vasiliev left his position as CEO of the company already in 2023.

The City of Hämeenlinna announced on Tuesday that the bus company Vekka Group has unexpectedly terminated all contracts for public transport in Hämeenlinna.

From the notification sent by Veka to the city, it appears that the reason for terminating the contract is distrust towards the city. The cause of mistrust is Vasiljev’s appointment as the city’s public transport manager in September.

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