In the 1990s, Harry Bogomoloff made a deal that decided the fate of the Helsinki ice rink

“Among in the photo, my father’s father, Fafa, appears in the uniform of the Russian navy, but in the face of the coups, he then stayed in Helsinki. More precisely, I don’t know the background, it was a hushed up matter in the family”, Harry ”Bogo” Bogomoloff tells about the origin of his handsome surname.

An active member of Helsinki’s municipal and sports life, he is a third-generation resident of Stadion, whose home language was Swedish. Due to the Finno-Swedishness of the mother and paternal grandmother, only the paternal grandfather knew Russian.

That’s why Bogomoloff got used to working in the minority.

“It meant that I had to defend myself and respond to slights, which I managed, but only verbally,” he continues.

Large the public knows Bogomoloff especially as a hockey influencer.

He served as the vice president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association for almost twenty years between 1997 and 2016. In addition, he has served as a congress representative of the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF.

Bogomoloff’s childhood home was at the western end of Uudenmaankatu, in Punavuori.

“In Skid, the area spread like a ring: Koffi park, Hietsu tori, Eltsu field, vocational school in Krunika, Presso’s cafe in Kaivopiha…”

I got involved in sports when I was little, because Boris– father was a sports influencer and Oleg-uncle played hockey and soccer in the national team.

In the year 1974 Bogomoloff started at the head of the Ice Field Foundation. He became the leading trustee of the Nordenskiöldinkatu hall and the new ice rinks. He lobbied the halls successfully.

Currently, there are eleven ice rinks in Helsinki, and a total of 21 ice rinks in them.

Everyday work and politics overlapped.

The symbiosis was a huge benefit, especially in the 1990s, when Nordis was badly short of the new Hartwall arena. HIFK threatened to leave its home nest, the already bankrupt Nordis.

Then It was time for Bogomolov to act quickly.

“We made sure that HIFK does not leave Nordis”, he formulates carefully. In that situation, he had to promise the club a full hall renovation. So how did it work out?

“We made the necessary political agreements”, he finally reveals.

“I negotiated and made the contract demarien Arto the Brewer with. In exchange for the renovation of Nordis, Artsi received the money for the new Liikuntamylly in Myllypuro.

Brewer led the dem group and Bogomoloff the coalition group.

The duo represented the largest parties in the council, so the BB deal, which included racing and recreational sports, went through the boards and the council without difficulty.

”

“You can only get results with cooperation, you can’t achieve anything alone.”

With the help of the townspeople, HIFK stayed in Nordis – and managed to stay alive.

Prior to this interview, Bogomoloff has not disclosed his contract.

“Sports won in many ways,” he muses.

In everyday life forty years have passed in municipal politics. What has a long period at the head of the council and in the city government taught you?

“Above all, the fact that you can only get results with cooperation, you can’t achieve anything alone”, thinks the conkar.

Bogomoloff, who is absolutely right-wing, also carries the reputation of a politician who is quite willing to negotiate. Slippery party relations are of primary importance and increase predictability, he states, but he also reminds us of interactions between individuals and the creation of trust.

“Listen, otherwise you can’t know how the other person thinks.”

His hometownthe beloved Stad, the situation and the assumed direction “Bogo” considers reasonable.

“Increasing the population of Helsinki should not be an independent value, I think the current level seems sufficient.”

What about your own share in the city’s affairs, or will next year’s municipal elections burn your mind?

“My running for office seems very unlikely, but the decision to stay out has not been made.”

What would you tell your 20-year-old self?

“Try to be human.”