Arktos Group decided to file for bankruptcy during an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on 24 January. The lawyer Veikko Almgren was appointed to represent Arktos. Production in Kemijärvi was halted and the work force of roughly 86 there had already been laid off on 23 January until a solution could be found to the financial problems. Laminated-wood production in Pori is continuing for now. Arktos claims that the trigger for the economic problems was the announcement on 17 January 2012 by the Finnish minority shareholder Stora Enso that it was writing off both its holding in Arktos and its €11m loan to the company. According to Juhani Kukkonen, CEO of Arktos, Stora Enso's announcement resulted in uncertainty among other creditors and finally in a stop on loans for buildings and plant.
