Patria on Friday announced that two employees of its land business unit have left the state-owned defence contractor by mutual consent.
Patria on Friday announced that two of its executives have resigned as a consequence of the widely reported case of a middle-aged businessman who had erroneously been given permission to market the products of the state-owned defence contractor in Uganda and Mozambique.
The Finnish businessman was found dead in a hotel room in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on 6 February.
The two executives to leave the company are Mika Kari, the president of Patria Land Systems, and Juha Simola, the vice president of sales and marketing at Patria Land Systems. Both of the executives left the state-owned company by mutual consent, according to a press release from Patria.
The defence contractor also indicated that it has identified a number of corrective measures to clarify its international marketing procedures and provide improved internal training to its employees.
“This incident has taught us that even the best procedures can be developed. We operate in a very sensitive business area and we cannot afford poor situational judgement calls,” explained Olli Isotalo, the CEO of Patria.
Mika Lintilä (Centre), the Minister of Economic Affairs, estimated that the resignations are a regrettable but necessary course of action to mitigate the scrutiny surrounding the defence contractor.
“In these circumstances after all the events, they naturally had to make a decision in order to restore their credibility and public confidence in their operations. The conclusion they reached was that two people in key positions will leave the company,” he commented to Iltalehti.
Lintilä is the minister responsible for ownership steering in the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Centre).
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Kaisa Siren – Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi
