Finland's Stora Enso has entered into an agreement to divest its two sawmills and their forest operations in Russia to local management, the group said in a press release.
'Stora Enso's assessment is that due to the uncertainties in the Russian market, local ownership and operation can provide a more sustainable long-term solution for these business operations and the employees working there,' the Finnish forestry group said in a statement.
Stora Enso announced on 2 March 2022 that it would stop all production and sales in Russia until further notice due to Russia's war in Ukraine, and added the group is in process to find a "sustainable solution" for its three packaging plants in Russia.
Last month, the company said it was looking for buyers for its mills in Finland's Anjala (pictured), Germany's Maxau and Sweden's Hylte and Nymolla, while planning to keep its mill in Langerbrugge in Belgium.
Russian Sawmills
The forestry group already recorded an impairment loss of €70 million ($75 million) for the sawmill sites in Novgorod and Karelia in the first quarter and said an additional loss for the transaction would be around €60 million to be recorded at the closing date, expected in the second quarter this year.
The sawmill sites employ approximately 330 people and have a total annual capacity of 350,000 cubic metres of sawn timber, while Stora Enso's Russian forest operations employs approximately 170 people and manages long-term harvesting rights covering around 370,000 hectares, the group said.
On 2 March, Stora Enso announced that it would stop all production and sales in Russia until further notice. The group added that it was in the process of finding a sustainable solution for the future of its three packaging plants in Russia.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM – your source for the latest packaging news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
