The Supreme Administrative Court: Fortum not in a dominant position
The Supreme Administrative Court in Finland has today overruled the appeal by
the Finnish Competition Authority on the decision of the Market Court on 14
March 2008. The Market Court decided then that Fortum's E.ON Finland
acquisition in 2006 did not give Fortum a dominant market position or
strengthen the market position.
In their ruling, the Supreme Administrative Court stated that Fortum cannot be
considered to have a dominant position in the power generation and wholesale
market, because the relevant geographical market area consists of at least
Finland and Sweden. With its decision, the Supreme Administrative Court
confirms the view of the Market Court.
"We are very pleased with the Court's decision as it gives better possibilities
to develop our operations also in Finland," says Fortum's Executive Vice
President Anne Brunila.
Fortum sells all the power it generates in Finland and Sweden to the wholesale
market through the Nordic power exchange Nord Pool. Approximately 330 companies
trade at Nord Pool and approximately 70% of all electricity consumed in the
Nordic countries is sold through it. Although Fortum is the third largest power
generator in the Nordic countries, its market share is only approximately 13%
of Nordic consumption.
"Even though power is traded in several different price areas in Nord Pool, the
Nordic countries form a well-functioning market area. Accordingly, the area
prices for Finland and Sweden were exactly the same over 94% of the time during
the past five years. The area price for Finland has been higher than in Sweden
for only 2.5% of the time. Area price differences are expected to reduce even
further as new transmission capacity is taken into use," Anne Brunila
emphasises.
Fortum Corporation
Anne Brunila
Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and Sustainability
Tel. +358 10 452 0970
Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Key media
www.fortum.com