Forest products giant Stora Enso named a new CEO on Monday. Karl-Henrik Sundström, a Swede who has worked for the company for two years, takes the wheel in August.
Jouko Karvinen, a Finn who has led Stora Enso for seven years, announced in April he would step down. Like Sundström, the firm’s board chair, Gunnar Brock, is a Swede. The company – which is headquartered in Finland and part-owned by the Finnish government – seems to be gravitating closer to Sweden, in line with many other Helsinki-based firms such as Rautaruukki.
Stora Enso was created in 1998 by the merger of Finland’s Enso-Gutzeit with Sweden’s Stora Kopparberg Bergslag, which began as a mining company in the thirteenth century. It has become one of the world's biggest pulp and paper manufacturers.
The company’s main office is a landmark Alvar Aalto building on Helsinki’s Katajanokka waterfront, but the outgoing CEO has hardly worked there, being based mostly in London.
"Not a sports competition"
Stora Enso’s board includes four Finns and three Swedes, as well as French and Singaporean members. A majority of Stora Enso stock remains in Finnish hands. The state owns just over a quarter through its investment firm Solidium. The Social Insurance Institution (Kela) holds just over one-tenth, while pension funds Varma and Ilmarinen control smaller slices.
Solidium CEO Kari Järvinen hailed the decision, saying that it was good that Stora Enso could quickly find a new CEO in-house.
“I don’t see the arrangement as any kind of Finland-Sweden sports competition. The choice of a CEO is not based on someone’s passport. It’s a question of getting the best people and the right resources in the right place,” Järvinen told Yle on Monday.
“It’s clear that the sector remains in a very challenging situation. The key challenge is of course improving profitability and taking advantage of new growth opportunities.”
