Helsinki, Finland, 27 October 2011 -- Co-operative negotiations, which started in September, regarding UPM Plywood Mill Maintenance in Finland have been completed. As a result of the negotiations, the number of UPM Plywood’s personnel in Finland will be reduced by 44 persons, out of which 38 will be redundancies.

The reason for the reduction is improvement of efficiency. The personnel reduction will take place by mid-2012. The persons left unemployed will be provided support for re-employment.

The reorganization of UPM Plywood’s international sales organization largely has been completed, also. In the reorganization, parts of the plywood sales will be centralized to sales offices in Germany and The Netherlands. Local sales offices in Italy, Norway, Poland, and the United States will be closed. In addition, the sales office in Japan will be merged with the UPM Timber sales office. As a result of the reorganization, the number of UPM Plywood’s personnel outside of Finland is estimated to reduce by 17 persons.

The reductions and re-employment support will be carried out according to each country’s local legislation.