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Finland's Stora Enso Completes Exit From Russia

By Dayeeta Das
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Finland's Stora Enso Completes Exit From Russia

Finland's Stora Enso has divested the last of its Russian operations, three corrugated packaging plants, to local management, the forestry firm said on Monday.

"We have sold all our operations in Russia," a company spokeswoman told Reuters, adding the divestment was pending regulatory approvals by local authorities.

On 2 March, Stora Enso announced it would stop all production and sales in Russia, condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Prior to what Moscow calls 'a special operation' in Ukraine, Stora Enso employed around 1,100 people in Russia and its Russian sales accounted for approximately 3% of the group's total sales.

Russian Sawmills

At the end of April, Stora said it had entered into an agreement to sell its two sawmills and their forest operations in Russia to local management, causing it to record a €130 million loss. 

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On Monday, Stora Enso said local ownership and operation would "provide a more sustainable long-term solution" for its three corrugated packaging plants and their employees in Lukhovitsy, Arzamas and Balabanovo, due to the uncertainties in the Russian market.

The company decline to reveal the financial value of the transaction, but said it would record an additional loss of €55 million ($57 million) for ithaving already recorded an impairment of €35 million in the first quarter.

Last month, the company beat first-quarter operating profit forecasts, but kept its full-year guidance in a move some analysts described as cautious.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM – your source for the latest packaging news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

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