On Monday 21 May 2018, Helsinki Court of Appeal published its decision in the Finnish wood procurement damage case between the state forest owner, Metsähallitus, and the three forest companies, Stora Enso, UPM and Metsäliitto. Metsähallitus claimed damages of 125 million EURO plus interest for alleged price fixing in the period 1998-2004.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the claim in its entirety and ordered Metsähallitus to compensate all defendants’ legal fees and costs. The Court of Appeal argued that Metsähallitus’ core economic model was based on false assumptions and included variables that had been given a questionable emphasis. This is the fourth time in a row that a Court has decided in favour of the defendants in the wood procurement cases.

Copenhagen Economics has supported Stora Enso in this matter since 2011, has produced a number of expert reports, and gave expert testimony in both the appeal case and in the original cases.

Learn more about the ruling (in Finnish)

For further information, please contact Claus Kastberg Nielsen