Finnish esports organisations ENCE and HAVU Gaming have terminated their partnerships with Finnish PC hardware company Jimm’s PC-Store.
The decision follows recent reports and an investigation, where a business owner was suspected of exporting drones purchased from Jimm’s to Russia.
Conducted by authorities from Finland, the Netherlands, and the U.S., the investigation surrounding Gabriel Temin began last Autumn after his companies Luminor and Siberica received messages implying Russian business connections.
Specifically, Temin was found guilty of selling defence equipment to Kazakhstan without the required permit by the Eastern Uusimaa District Court. While the equipment was transported through Russia, the country could not be confirmed as the final destination. Another confirmed violation was the export of goods to St. Petersburg that were under export restrictions.
In both cases, it could not be proven that the operations were directed from Russia. Furthermore, the court found no evidence that drones exported by Temin’s companies were destined for Russia.
On April 7th, Finnish newspaper Iltalehti reported on the investigation, alleging that 3,500 of the investigated drones were procured from Jimm’s PC-Store for about €2m.
Following the Iltalehti article, Jimm’s CEO, Veli Nietula, issued a public statement via the TechBBS discussion forum. Nietula confirmed the drone sales data as outlined by Iltalehti and admitted that due to a ‘sales frenzy’, Jimm’s had not performed sufficient background checks on its client companies.
However, the company CEO reiterated the conclusion of the District Court, where it could not be confirmed that the drones from Jimm’s were delivered to Russia.
At the end of the statement, Nietula expressed his company’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict: “We do not accept Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and we do not under any circumstances support any of Russia’s actions.”
Despite Jimm’s response, Finnish esports organisations HAVU Gaming and ENCE ended their partnerships with the PC company. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), HAVU referred to “recent issues, which [it] can’t accept” when explaining the decision.
ENCE argued similarly via X: “We take the recent matter around Jimm’s PC-store seriously, and have therefore decided to end our partnership effective immediately.”
ENCE and HAVU are among the biggest esports organisations in Finland, with rosters in Counter-Strike, NHL, and more. While HAVU primarily competes in the local esports scene or tier 2 tournaments globally, ENCE has achieved several high-tier international successes, such as winning the BLAST Pro Series: Madrid in 2019.
ENCE has other notable commercial partners, including Red Bull, Logitech G, and Vincit.
