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Ho-Ho-Ho! Finnish Santa Claus Goes Broke Without Russian Tourists

© AFP 2023 / FERENC ISZAHungarian roma children welcome a Santa Claus from Lapland aka Joulupukki in visit in Kaposmero. (File)
Hungarian roma children welcome a Santa Claus from Lapland aka Joulupukki in visit in Kaposmero. (File) - Sputnik International
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Finland’s Santa Claus Office, a popular tourist attraction on the Arctic Circle, has filed for bankruptcy over unpaid taxes after a dramatic decline in visits from Russia.

Dianordia, the company behind the dream place for millions of children around the world, owes over €200,000 ($228,000) in taxes. However, the company still believes in a Christmas miracle and will try to keep Santa on the job.

"We have one more week to come up with the money. I'm confident that we can handle this," Managing Director Jarmo Kariniemi was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The Santa Claus Office is part of the Santa Claus Village amusement park hosting several companies. Last year, the business had nearly 300,000 visitors and revenues of about €2 million. Russian tourists were once the best customers at the center.

According to Kariniemi, the financial difficulties were due to the "turbulence in the world" which has caused a sharp drop in the number of tourists to the region.

The flow of tourists from such countries as Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and especially from Russia has significantly declined, he explained referring to the economic problems in those countries.

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