An employee inspected above-ground equipment at the energy storage facility of Uniper in Bierwang, southern Germany in June 2022. The natural gas-reliant company is to move all but completely into the ownership of the German state, according to its parent company Fortum. (Lennart Preiss – AFP / Lehtikuva)

FORTUM and the German government have reached an agreement on the nationalisation of Uniper, a Düsseldorf-based natural gas-reliant subsidiary of Fortum.

The Finnish majority state-owned energy company revealed this morning that it will sell all of its 293 million shares in Uniper to the German state for around 500 million euros, or 1.7 euros per share. Uniper will also repay a four-billion-euro loan to its parent company and release the company from the four-billion-euro guarantee it received earlier this year.

E-commerce growth continues after the COVID-19 pandemic. Store campaigns create interest, traditional advertising grabs attention and free delivery encourages to buy more. These are results found in Posti’s Grand eCom Survey 2022, conducted by Kantar TNS. The study was done for the fifth time, this year focusing on active online shoppers and online stores in Finland.

A Finnair aircraft and passenger at Helsinki Airport on 13 August 2022. The Finnish majority state-owned airline said yesterday it intends to “balance” its route network and downsize its fleet as part of the strategic re-think necessitated by the closure of Russian airspace. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

FINNAIR on Wednesday announced it intends to “balance” its route network and downsize its fleet as part of the strategic turnabout necessitated by the closure of Russian airspace.

The Finnish majority state-owned airline stated that the measures are an attempt to reduce its unit costs by 15 per cent from the level of 2019 and restore its earnings before interest and taxes to the pre-pandemic level of at least five per cent as of mid-2024.

Photo: Aktia Group

In addition to long-term financial returns, the UI-Aktia Sustainable Corporate Bond aims to achieve significant social and environmental benefits by investing in European sustainable development bonds. Initially, the fund will be available to both domestic and foreign professional institutional investors, but it will made available to retail investors as well at a later stage.

Aktia has launched the new UI-Aktia Sustainable Corporate Bond fund on 1 September 2022.

A Fortum logo on the wall of the majority state-owned energy company’s head office in Espoo in March 2022. Fortum has received a reprimand from the consumer ombudsman over a television commercial that gave a misleading impression of the company’s environmental impact. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE CONSUMER OMBUDSMAN of Finland, Katri Väänänen, has reprimanded Fortum over a television ad that created a misleading impression of the company’s environmental impact.

The Äiti Maa (Eng. Mother Earth) commercial was ruled to give a one-sided and excessively positive impression of the environmental effects of the majority state-owned energy company’s operations, according to the Consumer and Competition Authority (KKV).

A Finnair aircraft at Helsinki Airport on 14 July 2022. The Finnish majority state-owned airline announced earlier this week it has entered into a long-term partnership with Qatar Airways, offering daily connections to Doha from Helsinki, Copenhagen and Stockholm. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

THE FLAG CARRIER of Finland, Finnair, on Monday announced it is entering into a long-term strategic partnership with Qatar Airways.

The Finnish majority state-owned airline will commence daily flights from Helsinki, Copenhagen and Stockholm to Doha, the main hub of Qatar Airways. The two airlines will share cargo and passenger capacity on the three routes under a comprehensive codeshare agreement.

Finnish Private Equity and Venture Capital Investors' (PE investors) have named 44 startups and growth companies from their portfolios, which can potentially be listed in the next five years. The list includes established, large companies as well as newer technology companies.

PE investors are involved in developing a company in all its stages of growth – funding and growth partners can be found for both early-stage seed companies and more established companies with a revenue of more than one hundred million.

Fortum’s logo on the wall of its head office in Espoo, Southern Finland, on 22 July 2022. The Finnish majority state-owned energy utility says it is faced with collateral requirements worth around five billion euros. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS of Fortum have increased by a billion euros in a week due to soaring spot and futures prices for power in the Nordics, the Finnish majority state-owned energy utility said on Monday.

Markus Rauramo, the CEO of Fortum, revealed last week at the company’s earnings call that the company is faced with collateral requirements worth roughly 11 billion euros.

The Fennovoima logo at the construction site of its cancelled nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia, on 3 November 2021. Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear energy company that was to supply the plant, has taken legal action over the termination of its supplier contract by Fennovoima. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

ROSATOM, a Russian state-owned nuclear energy and weapons company, has resorted to legal action over its cancelled nuclear power project with Fennovoima in Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia, report YLE and Helsingin Sanomat.

Reuters on Tuesday reported that Rosatom has initiated a total of six proceedings against its partner, tabling claims for damages that add up to around three billion euros.

Blasting at the site of the newly scrapped nuclear power project of Fennovoima in Pyhäjoki, North Ostrobothnia, in November 2021. The Finnish nuclear energy company is presently focusing on preserving the site after terminating its supplier contract with Russian state-owned atomic energy company Rosatom in late April. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

THE LEGAL FIGHT over Fennovoima’s failed nuclear power project has started.

Joachim Specht, the chief executive of Fennovoima, told Helsingin Sanomat last weekend that the company has initiated arbitration proceedings against Rosatom, the Russian state-owned atomic energy company selected as the plant supplier.