04.06.2010. Äripäev. ‘IMF: Swedish banks ruined Baltic people’

They do see the truth somewhere…

IMF experts believe that the expansion of western banks to Eastern Europe led to an even greater imbalance than the one before the Asian crisis in 1997, says news agency LETA in the news published by Latvian Delfi. Experts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) find that Swedish banks that provoked a loan boom in the Baltic States ruined local people and pushed them into poverty.

More about the same subject:

http://www.raamatupidaja.ee/?PublicationId=23c17391-cf6e-4615-97e3-5daff834ea0c

05.02.2010. E24. ‘Levada sought rehabilitation to protect himself from SEB’

Attention! The case of Viktor Levada, which he won't discuss because of his fear of the banks, is similar to the story of many successful Estonian companies who grew on bank loans: one of the guy's businesses is starting to go down the drains during recession... he worries about repaying his bank loans... the bank first asks for a personal surety... then asks him to bring all his businesses into the same so-called group account, all for the sake of good cooperation… then the bank seizes all businesses including the successful ones and tries to recover money for the struggling company from other companies… by selling them if necessary… and if that doesn't work, it goes after the guy's home, cars…

Harju County Court initiated the rehabilitation procedure of metal processing company OÜ Levadia Metall on 2 February. The company's owner Viktor Levada says that his company was forced to apply for rehabilitation to find protection from the short-sighted and uncompromising conduct of SEB Bank.

More about the same subject:

http://www.e24.ee/?id=221158

21.01.2010. Eesti Ekspress. ‘Woman (Rita Tali) continues her fight against formidable bank’

This is an interesting dispute where the bank demonstrates its complete disregard of people and gives an unfortunate woman the run-around… the main thing is getting its money back!!

Follow-up to the article published a year ago ‘Woman in despair speaks of her life as victim of a bank’, where freelance translator Rita Valdna (now Tali) accused Swedbank of cruel business practises. The bank lent a million kroons to her ex-husband's company, but demanded it back from Valdna, who had pledged her home as collateral during her marriage. Although Valdna asked the bank to register the claim in her name so she could immediately start paying it back, the bank refused and gave her the run-around for years. The bank had the woman's farm seized and put it up for sale. Both the county court and the circuit court ruled in favour of the bank and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The case has now been referred to the European Court of Human Rights.

More about the same subject:

http://paber.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/C2414CD5D0949FCBC2257693004EDDA2

http://hot.ee/rootsipank/

18.01.2010. Pärnu Postimees. ‘Court declares Elmar Lepp bankrupt’

Pärnu County Court declared the bankruptcy of one of the first private entrepreneurs in Estonia Elmar Lepp and appointed Peeter Allikvere the trustee in bankruptcy. Swedbank sought a bankruptcy declaration against Lepp, as he had personally guaranteed two million kroons worth of loans taken by OÜ Lepa Kaubanduskeskus, which belongs to Lepp, his wife Virve Lepp and son Tanel Lepp. Lepa Kaubanduskeskus is now bankrupt and sold to Lepa Keskus OÜ, a joint venture of EfTEN Property Fund and a subsidiary of Silikaat Group, for 25.7 million kroons. Elmar Lepp has repeatedly told the press that the explanations given by the bank when it initiated the bankruptcy procedure were unclear.

27 April 2009. Delfi. ‘Rüütmann: SEB must take responsibility for mistakes in issue’

Rüütman may be a businessman and one who doesn't always toe the line… but the conduct of SEB and its dumb managers is a hundred times worse!

Private person's bankruptcy procedure was initiated against Toomas Rüütman at the initiative of SEB Bank and actual declaration of bankruptcy could only be suspended in the circuit court. Says Rüütman: ‘The judgement made today proves that SEB was prepared to do whatever it takes to hide its own mistakes and shun responsibility for organising the issue. The bank tried to set me up as the scapegoat and its desire to have me declared bankrupt had the malevolent purpose of intimidating me and causing even more problems.’

In light of this court judgement, SEB decided to compensate clients for the bonds of Rüütman's company TR Majad in the amount of 177 million kroons.

24 April 2009. Ärileht in Eesti Päevaleht. ‘FT: Storm in Baltic States is shaking Swedish banks’

Financial Times writes that according to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Swedish banks have 80 billion USD or almost 1 trillion kroons worth of tied-up assets in the Baltic States. Such a huge amount comprises 16 percent of the gross domestic product of Sweden. It is also an interesting fact that Swedbank has more loan clients in the Baltic States in 2009 than in Sweden.

23.07.2010 Äripäev: SEB: The court judgement was executed by settlement of accounts

To be honest, it's disgusting how banks, who should be trusted by the public, argue over every last penny that doesn't belong to them simply because they MUST NOT LOSE THEIR POSITION!! All they do is lie, lie, lie… please, don't keep your money in SEB Bank!!

The legal costs were set off with the obligation of Grove Invest to SEB, were the comments of the bank's representative on the seizure of the bank's account.

Bailiff Kaire Põlts seized the account of SEB Bank on 21 July. It was an attempt to collect the money the bank owed Grove Invest in legal costs.

When commenting on the seizure of the bank's account, the press officer of SEB Bank Piret Seeman said that they filed an action with the court, which disputes the enforcement procedure initiated by Grove Investment for collection of legal costs, because these costs were set off with the obligation of Grove Invest to SEB. ‘The court satisfied the action and stopped the enforcement procedure.’

‘Even though the amount of legal costs is reserved on SEB's accounts, it is not subject to be paid out, as the execution procedure was suspended,’ added Seeman. ‘As far as SEB is concerned, the court ruling was executed by settlement of accounts.

SEB disagrees with the claims made by Grove Invest to the media that the bank has failed to pay legal costs in the amount of 64,900 kroons. SEB has done what the court ordered and Grove Invest wants us to pay the same amount twice by involving a bailiff,’ she noted.

Although 64,900 kroons plus the bailiff's fees are reserved on the bank's account, the money is currently not subject to be paid out.

‘We would also like to point out that said amount concerns the judgement made by the circuit court, which orders payment of legal costs in the amount of 64,000 kroons in favour of Grove Invest. There is no way this can be connected to any ongoing litigation,’ said the press officer.

‘The final decision in the resolution of disagreements in a state based on the rule of law is made by the court and SEB does not believe that discussing litigation in media is the right thing to do,’ said Seeman about the bank's standpoint in the matter.

The saga of legal costs:
14 April 2010 – Tallinn Circuit Court orders SEB Bank to pay legal costs in the amount of 64,900 kroons in favour of Grove Invest.

22 June 2010 – SEB Bank set off the amount it was ordered to pay by the court against the debt of OÜ Grove Invest to the bank.
30 June 2010 – Grove Invest requests a bailiff to initiate enforcement procedure.
21 July 2010 – SEB Bank filed an action with the court requesting disallowance of compulsory execution and suspension of the enforcement procedure.

22 July 2010 – the court suspends the enforcement procedure.

Grove Invest has sued SEB for 1.5 billion kroons. The company is accusing the bank of ruining it.

Katre Pilvinski, Äripäev 23.07.2010

23.07.2010. Äripäev: Bailiff seized SEB's account

At last… SEB's managers are the ones looking like fools!

Bailiff Kaire Põlts seized the account of SEB Bank on 21 July. It was an attempt to collect the money the bank owed Grove Invest in legal costs.

Grove Invest has sued SEB for 1.5 billion kroons. The company is accusing the bank of ruining it.

Grove Invest announced that the claim for damages was filed for causing the economic difficulties, liquidity problems and bankruptcy of Baltic Panel Group OÜ, a company with 150 employees founded by Grove Invest, in 2007 and 2008.

In his comments to Äripäev in February this year, board member of Grove Invest OÜ Jüri Triletski said that the bank is guilty of selecting the wrong legal remedies regarding the supplier of the factory's equipment.

Attorney-at-law Erki Kergandberg who represents Grove Invest said at the time that  launching the plywood factory failed, because suppliers of the production equipment were unable to make the equipment work, and SEB Bank and Leasing did not agree with the possible solutions offered by Grove Invest and Baltic Panel Group to the problems. This resulted in liquidity problems for Baltic Panel Group and the company was declared bankrupt in May 2008.

Kaisa Tahlfeld, Äripäev 23.07.2010

19.07.2010 Äripäev: Grove Invest struggling to get money from SEB

WHAT'S GOING ON!? Don't laws apply to banks in Estonia any more!!??

Although OÜ Grove Invest won in court against its former partner SEB Group and the court ordered the bank to pay litigation costs in favour of the company, the bank still hasn't paid up.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Grove Invest OÜ Natalia Levina told Äripäev's Russian sister publication Delovye Vedomosti that the conflict between SEB and Grove Invest started when the equipment purchased for Kohila Plywood Factory with leasing broke soon after acquisition. ‘The equipment belonged to SEB Leasing. The factory was not working, but we had to continue making lease payments, repay our bank loans, pay salaries to staff and taxes. Eventually we ran out of money, but the equipment still wasn't working. We had to declare that Baltic Panel Group OÜ was bankrupt,’ said Levina.

In 2008 SEB filed a bankruptcy petition against Gove Invest.

Levina: The bank chose the cheapest option

Levina believes that the bank filed a bankruptcy petition against Grove Invest, because the state fee payable for filing such a petition is very low in Estonia. ‘I think the option chosen by the bank was not the cleanest, but it was certainly the cheapest,’ she added.

In her opinion, the bank wanted to use the bankruptcy petition to force Grove Invest into a transaction that was harmful for the company. ‘We have our correspondence with SEB, where they filed for our bankruptcy and at the same time, they offered us the option to buy out the bank's claim against the factory for 150 million kroons. We agreed to pay 100 millions. Where's the logic in this? If I have this much money to pay, it means I cannot be bankrupt,’ said Levina.

SEB is convinced that there is nothing out of the ordinary in the way the bank and the leasing company conducted themselves with Baltic Panel Group and Grove Invest. ‘SEB went to court, because Grove Invest did not perform its obligations. Grove Invest countersued, accusing SEB of causing the bankruptcy of Baltic Panel Group,’ said SEB Bank's Communications Manager Silver Vohu.

Levina says that SEB Leasing as the owner of the equipment should have taken responsibility for what happened. ‘They didn't allow us to repair the equipment and they didn't do it themselves either,’ she said.

Defence lawyer of Grove Invest: The bank is ignoring its obligations

Attorney-at-law Elmer Muna from law firm Tark & Co, who defended Grove Invest, claims that the bank is ignoring its obligations. ‘The amount of the legal costs is peanuts for SEB Bank (64,900 kroons) and paying them would not be a problem. The court judgement obviously means nothing to the bank, especially as it was not made in their favour,’ said Muna.

He added that they filed an execution petition with a bailiff. ‘The bank has to pay the legal costs as well as for the services of the bailiff,’ added the attorney.

Former director: SEB is a lousy owner

The former CEO of Baltic Panel Group Tiit Tammsaar believes that the negative consequences and mass redundancies could have been avoided if the bank had been more accommodating with the company.

‘I can say that SEB is not the best owner. Irrespective of whether or not the bank is guilty, I am convinced that they saw themselves as the stronger side and acted accordingly. It is clear that they're the biggest owners, the money is theirs and they can do whatever they want,’ he said.

Number: The court ordered the SEB Group to pay 64,000 kroons in legal costs in favour of Grove Invest.

Comments

Silver Vohu

By law, we are obliged to not disclose information subject to banking secrecy, which means we are unable to discuss the financial issues of a client in public and the bank can only present its counterclaims in court. However, we can confirm that the accusations made by Grove Invest are unfounded and the bank is ready to defend its rights in court.

We believe that both the bank and the leasing company have conducted themselves with Grove Invest as can ordinarily be expected and in good faith, and both have performed the contracts they entered into. SEB will naturally do as the court ruled when it decided not to declare Grove Invest bankrupt and pay the procedure expenses in the amount determined by the court.

Inna Rak, Äripäev 19.07.2010

05.07.2010 SEB must pay the legal costs of Grove Invest

The judgement made by the circuit court, which ordered AS SEB Pank to pay 64,900 kroons in legal costs for filing an unfounded and dismissed bankruptcy petition against OÜ Grove Invest in summer 2009, entered into force. 

Grove Invest is a company that used to be engaged in plywood and furniture production and is now developing the Luther residential area in Tallinn. The procedure regarding its biggest claim for damages against the SEB Group, which amounts to 1.49 billion kroons, is likely to start in court in September or October.

‘We are glad that we've finally achieved our first victory against the SEB Group in court after going through all three court instances,’ said chairman of the Supervisory Board of Grove Invest OÜ Natalia Levina. ‘I believe that the bank will take us more seriously in the future and not try to shun responsibility simply because it's bigger and stronger, and hoping that nobody wants to go to court against them.’

Natalia Levina explains that the court case in question goes back to 2008, when Grove Invest had to apply for bankruptcy of its plywood factory in Kohila (Baltic Panel Group OÜ) due to SEB's failure to act when necessary.

‘SEB Bank refused to admit that it was at fault and tried to destroy us with all kinds of litigation, which included attempts to have Grove Invest declared bankrupt,’ said Levina. ‘Although the court ruled back in 2009 that the bank had no grounds for filing a bankruptcy petition against Grove Invest, it still refused to pay the legal costs it was ordered to pay by the court and kept disputing them for as long as possible. The case has now gone through courts of all instances and SEB must pay us 64,900 kroons.’

Natalia Levina noted that several cases of Grove Invest, Baltic Panel Group and persons related to these companies against the SEB Group are still being resolved in court, and the largest of these is the claim for circa 1.5 billion kroons plus default interest filed against SEB in February this year.

Levina explains that all of this litigation results from the fact that in 2008, SEB caused the bankruptcy of the modern plywood factory in Kohila, which cost 500 million kroons to build and employed 150 people.

Grove Invest OÜ is represented in court by attorneys-at-law Erki Kergandberg and Elmer Muna from Law Firm Tark & Co, and attorney-at-law Arne Ots from Law Firm Raidla Lejins & Norcous.

Tea Taruste, Ehitusuudised 05.07.2010

05.07.2010. Grove Invest achieved the first final victory in its court battle against SEB Bank

Take note, life is getting exciting, because SEB Bank is beginning to lose its comfortable position! Although this small victory is nothing next to the amounts that SEB will probably have to pay Grove in the next few years, it is a very important step!

Grove Invest, who used to be engaged in plywood and furniture production and is now developing the Luther residential area in Tallinn, achieved the first final victory in its court battle against the SEB Group, because the judgement made by the circuit court, which ordered AS SEB Pank to pay 64,900 kroons in legal costs for filing an unfounded and dismissed bankruptcy petition against OÜ Grove Invest in summer 2009, entered into force. The biggest claim for damages filed by Grove Invest against the SEB Group amounts to 1.49 billion kroons and will be heard in court probably in September or October.
‘We are glad that we've finally achieved our first victory against the SEB Group in court after going through all three court instances,’ said chairman of the Supervisory Board of Grove Invest OÜ Natalia Levina. ‘I believe that the bank will take us more seriously in the future and not try to shun responsibility simply because it's bigger and stronger, and hoping that nobody wants to go to court against them.’
Natalia Levina explains that the court case in question goes back to 2008, when Grove Invest had to apply for bankruptcy of its plywood factory in Kohila (Baltic Panel Group OÜ) due to SEB's failure to act when necessary. ‘SEB Bank refused to admit that it was at fault and tried to destroy us with all kinds of litigation, which included attempts to have Grove Invest declared bankrupt,’ said Levina. ‘Although the court ruled back in 2009 that the bank had no grounds for filing a bankruptcy petition against Grove Invest, it still refused to pay the legal costs it was ordered to pay by the court and kept disputing them for as long as possible. The case has now gone through courts of all instances and SEB must pay us 64,900 kroons.
Natalia Levina noted that several cases of Grove Invest, Baltic Panel Group and persons related to these companies against the SEB Group are still being resolved in court, and the largest of these is the claim for circa 1.5 billion kroons plus default interest filed against SEB in February this year. Levina explains that all of this litigation results from the fact that in 2008, SEB caused the bankruptcy of the modern plywood factory in Kohila, which cost 500 million kroons to build and employed 150 people. Grove Invest OÜ is represented in court by attorneys-at-law Erki Kergandberg and Elmer Muna from Law Firm Tark & Co, and attorney-at-law Arne Ots from Law Firm Raidla Lejins & Norcous

Neljas.ee 05.07.2010

20.02.2010 Eesti Ekspress: Moscow multimillionaire's daughter battles Estonian bank

Eesti Ekspress found the woman, who is becoming the leader of resistance against Swedish banks in Estonia. Hooray!!! Hooray! Hooray!!

I am embarrassed about my wooden and limited Russian, when I start my interview with Natalia Levina (34).

Her answers are curt and I am beginning to fear that this is going to be rather torturous, when she smiles at me and tells me how she defended the reputation of Estonia.

Last September, Levina noticed an article about Estonia in Spain's second biggest newspaper El Mundo. It said that our country's economy was in freefall and the rate of the lats (sic!) was faltering.

Natalia then contacted the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (its president Toomas Luman is her good acquaintance and business partner), they called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry talked to the ambassador and El Mundo finally removed the incorrect article from its website and published a correction of its mistakes.

We sit in the open-plan kitchen in Levina's apartment in the Luther Quarter. There is a small table with four chairs, a sofa with cushions and a white cuddly sheep in the corner, a steel grey fridge.

I take a sip of instant coffee (gosh, I cannot remember the last time I had it!), look around and think that this apartment is warm in terms of temperature, but the atmosphere feels a bit chilly. It doesn't feel like a home and looks more like a place for quick overnight stays.

However, she said that an apartment is better than the hotel where she used to stay before and it is good to sit down for a chat here when her parents come to visit from Moscow.

Levina, who studied law in Moscow, moved to Madrid about ten years ago.

Over there, she completed her education in business management, worked as an investment consultant specialising in Eastern Europe and gave lectures in the university.

She ended up in Estonia a little over a year ago, when Pyotr Sedin asked for the assistance of her father, who is engaged in the vodka industry. Pyotr Levin is a mining engineer, like Sedin.

Levin became the main owner of Sedin's company Grove Invest, which develops apartment buildings in the Luther Quarter and established a plywood factory in Kohila.

He sent his daughter, who used to live in Spain, to oversee his investments here and she now spends about 40 per cent of her time in Tallinn.

‘Spring and autumn are the worst seasons,’ says Levina. ‘You can get fresh strawberries in Spain when the snow hasn't even melted here yet.’ She likes picking berries and mushrooms in our forests. ‘The first time I visited Estonia was in the Soviet times, when I was in the sixth grade. And Estonia seemed a lot better off than Moscow some 15, 16 years ago. You had ATMs, bankers were not getting shot and you had Stockmann, where prices were lower than in Moscow. People seemed kinder.’

We all heard some astounding news on Monday: ‘The company that established Kohila Plywood Factory is suing SEB for 1.49 billion kroons.’

The action is extraordinary in terms of size and content.

Firstly, no Estonian company has claimed so much in damages before. Secondly, the content of the action is unprecedented. Attorney-at-law Erki Kergandberg says that the case is not about loss of profit, but SEB Bank and its leasing company destroyed a healthy company and Grove Invest is claiming compensation for the damages caused.

However, the attorney refused to discuss the action in detail – it would be polite to let SEB see the papers before the press do.

The bank in its turn said it was unable to comment, as it had not yet been able to acquaint itself with the action.

The bankruptcy petition signed by Pyotr Sedin gives the best explanation of what happened in Kohila thus far. It states that the objective of the business plan was to launch a plywood factory of large production capacity. However, the equipment purchased from Italy proved to be defective and the factory could never work at full capacity. The owner ran out of money, which is why Sedin himself had to file a bankruptcy petition with the court.

Natalia Levina says that SEB Leasing as the owner of the equipment dithered for so long that the warranty period expired. The bank was unable to obtain a new warranty. Instead, SEB drove the factory to bankruptcy with its utterly confusing behaviour and bombarded the factory's owner Grove Invest and Pyotr Sedin personally through collateral.

The bank even tried to get Sedin's Nõmme home sold.

‘I know that there isn't a single bank in the world that behaves with its clients the way SEB does,’ says Levina.

As the details of the action have not been released yet, I am unable to say how seriously it should be taken. One of the fiercest economic battles in Estonia is still on the level of PR – the Levin-Sedin side announced their attack.

However, it is clear that this is more than an attempt to scare the bank with a large figure, because the action was prepared by two of the best known law firms in the country: Raidla Lejins & Norcous and Tark & Co. These firms don't get involved in complete rubbish.

Joint property business with Toomas Luman

■ Natalia Levina is a member of the supervisory board of Grove Invest, the company that develops property in Tallinn and built a plywood factory in Kohila.

■ Natalia Levina herself owns one-half of Shnelli House, which houses the headquarters of Estonian Railway, through a small company.

■ The other half of the building belongs to Toomas Luman, whose company is also building the Luther Quarter.

■ Levina also owns one-half of Nordea House.

Eesti Ekspress, 20 February 2010

15.02.2010. E24.Grove Invest suing SEB for 1.49 billion

The breaking news that shook the Estonian public is in front of you! None of our top businessmen have had the guts to sue banks… or rather: none of them have had the money to defend themselves in court after being blitzed by banks. Read on and you will see that these businessmen are serious, or they wouldn't have paid the state some 1.5 million kroons as a guarantee for filing the action!

OÜ Grove Invest is accusing SEB Bank and Leasing of causing the economic difficulties, liquidity problems and bankruptcy of its subsidiary Baltic Panel Group and is suing the bank for 1.49 billion kroons in damages.

Attorney-at-law Erki Kergandberg, who represents OÜ Grove Invest which is partly owned by Pyotr Sedin, said that his client decided to sue the bank because Baltic Panel Group OÜ (BPG), which was founded in 2005 for production of plywood, lost its investment as well as the company itself as a result of the forceful interference of SEB Bank and Leasing in the company's management. ‘There was a delay in launching the plywood factory, because the supplier of the equipment was unable to make the equipment work and SEB Bank and Leasing did not agree with the possible solutions offered by Grove Invest and Baltic Panel Group to the problems. This resulted in liquidity problems for Baltic Panel Group and the court declared the company bankrupt on 12 May 2008,’ he said. Board member and shareholder of OÜ Grove Invest Jüri Triletski says that the plywood factory in Kohila, which cost 500 million kroons to build, had the labour, the raw materials and the client base on export markets it needed and also a profit insurance contract with one of the world's largest insurers Zurich. ‘If the bank had not stood in our way when we were trying to resolve the technical issues we faced in launching the factory, the factory of Baltic Panel Group would be working at full capacity today, making 50,000 cubic metres of plywood per year, generating a turnover of 535 million kroons per year with its EBITDA at 230 million kroons per year, and it would be employing some 150 people in Kohila,’ said Triletski.

E24 Äriuudised 15.02.2010

17.08.2009 E24. SEB Leasing bought the registered immovable of Kohila Plywood Factory

And now the SEB becomes the Owner of the Factory

SEB Leasing bought the registered immovable of the bankrupt Kohila Plywood Factory for 25 million kroons plus VAT.

‘Both the equipment [of the factory] and the registered immovable now have the same owner,’ said trustee-in-bankruptcy Andres Hermet. The plywood factory of Baltic Panel Group in Kohila went bankrupt last May. The factory did not find a buyer at an auction for the starting price of 425 million kroons. The trustee-in-bankruptcy tried to sell the factory again later, but did not succeed.

13.05.2008 Defective equipment caused the bankruptcy of Kohila Plywood Factory

Here starts the story nobody was expecting...

The Baltic Panel Group's plywood factory in Kohila was declared bankrupt in Rapla Courthouse yesterday. The factory's representative explained that bankruptcy was largely caused by the defective equipment bought in Italy.

Attorney-at-law Erki Kergandberg, who represents OÜ Grove Invest, said that bankruptcy was largely caused by the defective equipment purchased from Italian company Angelo Cremona, which made it impossible to start manufacturing plywood at full capacity as intended in the business plan, writes Nädaline.

‘The equipment is defective, which means that the factory has never been able to work at full capacity and there were stoppages,’ said the debtor's representative and asked the court to declare bankruptcy.

Andres Hermet, who was appointed the trustee-in-bankruptcy of Kohila Plywood Factory, said that the company's losses have been high for three years, amounting to 66 million kroons last year.

‘The company's bank accounts are practically empty and debts to creditors, the Tax Board and utility service providers are huge. The debt burden of Baltic Panel Group including all outstanding liabilities amounts to 84 million kroons,’ noted Hermet and added that some workers of the factory have filed complaints with the Labour Dispute Committee for unpaid wages.

10.06.2007. Tiit Tammsaar became the director of Kohila Plywood Factory

Take a closer look: the goals of the company were really high!

Tiit Tammsaar, who for many years had been furthering his political career as a member of Rahvaliit, became the director of OÜ Baltic Panel Group or Kohila Plywood Factory on 5 June.
The majority of the raw material used in the Kohila factory of Baltic Panel Group is brought from Russia. The new CEO said that the hidden economic sanctions coming from Russia should not create problems in production – the goal is to have most of the raw material originating from Estonia, wrote Rapla weekly Nädaline.

The factory is currently negotiating with the State Forest Management Centre to ensure this.

Tiit Tammsaar worked as the chief mechanic and chief engineer on Kaiu Collective Farm and became the director of its successor OÜ Kaiu LT. He was the Minister of Agriculture from 2003 to 2004. He has been elected to the Riigikogu twice.

Baltic Panel Group is the biggest manufacturer of plywood in Estonia whose projected capacity is 50,000 cubic metres of plywood per year.

ERR Uudised

26.02.2004 TVMK is moving its factory to Kohila

Hear starts the sad story that promised to bring huge luck and profit...

Furniture and plywood company TVMK, which is currently looking for investors, is moving its production to Kohila not far from Tallinn and will create 400 jobs over there.

The land is located a couple of kilometres from the centre of Kohila and was sold to TVMK by the state for 300,000 kroons. The empty square is almost 20 hectares in size and located between the railway and warehouses at a distance from residential houses, and meets TVMK's requirements that the new factory must be located near Tallinn and the railway.
TVMK disclosed its plans to leave Tallinn in September last year, as it intends to build a factory of considerably higher capacity and save on land and pollution tax, the price of water and the wages of workers.

The financial director of TVMK Oleg Panfilov said that the company will close production in Tallinn in about a year or a year and a half, as this is when the new factory should be up and running if all goes according to plan. However, there may be a stoppage in production, as it is difficult to predict when the new factory will be ready with plans for the new factory still not completed.
The plywood factory's move will create approximately 400 jobs in Kohila. TVMK currently employs about 700 people.

Kristiina Randmaa, Äripäev