Last week, the Helsinki District Court gave its decision in the first eight damages cases of private forest owners vs. the three large forest companies, Stora Enso, Metsäliitto and UPM.

In its decision, the district court states that the claimants have not been able to show that the cartel would have caused any damage on the claimants and, hence, dismisses the damage claims entirely. The court refers largely to the economic evidence provided in the cases, in which Copenhagen Economics acted as Stora Enso’s economic expert.

The eight decisions are part of the large package of separate damage cases issued by over 450 private forest owners against the three forest companies, where the forest owners claim to have suffered around 12 million euros of total financial damages due to the wood procurement cartel in 1997-2004. Given the large amount of separate cases in this private forest owner process, the district court decided to publish its first decisions now and rest by the end of the year.

For further information, please contact Claus Kastberg Nielsen