THE RESTRUCTURING hopes of Talvivaara received a major – and unexpected – boost on Monday, when Belgium's Nyrstar reinstated its support for the Finnish mining company's application for debt restructuring. The Belgian zinc producer is one of Talvivaara's biggest creditors and had only withdrawn its support for the application a few weeks earlier, on 26 November.
Following the withdrawal, the District Court of Espoo approved the application of Talvivaara's listed parent company but postponed its decision on subsidiary Talvivaara Sotkamo pending further clarification. The debt restructuring process can only be launched if the applications of both companies have been approved by the court.
Pekka Perä, the CEO of Talvivaara, now expects the district court to communicate its decision already on Monday or Tuesday. However, he also reminds that the matter remains solely in the hands of the court and that Talvivaara has no influence on it.
In a press release, Nyrstar's financial director Heinz Eigner reveals that the company revised its position after reviewing the issue several times with a court-appointed interim administrator. “Our confidence in the process has thereby been restored, and we have decided to reinstate our support for the application of Talvivaara Sotkamo,” Eigner explains.
Talvivaara has received over 230 million euros in advances from the Belgian company for zinc deliveries.
Perä has welcomed the change of heart by Nyrstar as a positive sign but insists that he is not in a position to comment on it. He estimates that with Nyrstar's support also Talvivaara Sotkamo has the backing it needs to enable the court to approve its restructuring application.
Heikki Arola – HS
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
© Helsingin Sanomat
Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Lehtikuva
