Finnpulp continues the preparation of the bio mill in Kuopio, Sorsasalo. The renewal of the land agreement will be handled by the administration of Kuopio city in October.
According to the managing director Martti Fredrikson, Finnpulp has considered other places for the mill as well, but Kuopio still is the best place. The renewal of the agreements pertaining to the land area in Sorsasalo are required in order to continue the project. Fredrikson says that “We need a certainty of the agreement before we can make any decisions how to continue with project”.
The Supreme Administrative Court rejected in December 2019 the environmental permit that Vaasa administrative court had earlier granted.
Fredrikson says that the operational environment has changed in many ways during the project. “Multiple factors, such as several news regarding closures of mills and factories, support the idea of new projects to be realized and create more jobs and export incomes to Finland. Logging volumes are declining sharply after a record year in 2018, and the closure of the Kaipola mill will reduce demand for pulpwood in central Finland”.
The cost estimation of the mill that Finnish Administrative Supreme Court rejected was 1,6 billion euros and the mill would have provided 3 400 permanent jobs.