Yesterday, the Helsinki District Court gave its decision in the damage case of 32 Finnish municipalities vs. the three large forest companies; Stora Enso, Metsäliitto and UPM.

In its decision, the district court states that the claimants were not able to show that the wood procurement cartel in place between 1997 and 2004 had resulted in any economic damage to the municipalities, neither through decreased sales volumes nor through below market prices. Therefore, the district court ruled to dismiss the damage claims in their entirety.

In this case, Copenhagen Economics acted as Stora Enso’s economic expert and had Dr Kastberg Nielsen and Dr Lunde appear in front of the court providing their testimonies regarding the economic analysis carried out by Copenhagen Economics.  

The 32 municipalities claimed to have suffered approximately EUR 6m of financial damage due to the cartel and seeked compensation from the three forest companies. This case is related to previous work of Copenhagen Economics as Stora Enso’s economic expert in cases, in which the Helsinki District Court dismissed the first eight private forest owners’ claims  and the claims of Metsähallitus, the Finnish state forest owner. 

For further information, please contact Claus Kastberg Nielsen