Stora Enso Changes Its Organisation

Stora Enso Changes Its Organisation 


HELSINKI, Finland, March 31  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Stora Enso (NYSE: SEO)
today announced that Stora Enso has reviewed its organisational structure as a
number of key persons will reach retirement age in the next three years,
starting with the forthcoming retirement of Deputy CEO Bjorn Hagglund on 1 June
2005.

The new organisation will focus on broadening the experience of a number of key
managers, reducing the number of management levels within Stora Enso, expanding
in emerging markets and developing global product divisions.

  The new organisation structure will take effect from 1 May 2005.

  Line organisation


The Asia Pacific and Latin America geographical divisions will report to Group
staff Corporate Strategy in order to strengthen the efforts to grow in emerging
markets, including Eastern Europe. In addition, the product divisions will
become more involved in growth projects in these markets as a result of the
organisational changes.

Stora Enso Publication Paper, Fine Paper and North America (SENA) will each
report to the CEO. The work done by the Paper product area on identifying and
achieving synergies within these divisions will continue and be extended to the
relevant divisions or corporate staff functions such as Corporate Strategy and
Market Services. This will ensure that some of the successful initiatives by
the Paper product area are implemented throughout the Group. These initiatives
have included Stora Enso Account Management, the Why Paper continuous study of
paper demand factors and the maintenance strategy.

Speciality Paper will be transferred to Packaging Boards and Merchant
operations will report to the Fine Paper division. The Merchant operations will
remain independent from the Fine Paper division operations in order to preserve
the required integrity towards suppliers and customers. For financial reporting
purposes these changes will be effective from Q2 2005 onwards.

Staff functions

The number of staff functions, which will report to the CEO, will be reduced
from eight to six, namely:

   *  Finance, Accounting, Legal and IR
   *  Corporate IT, HR and Business Excellence
   *  Market Services (Sales Network and Transport and Distribution)
   *  Corporate Communications
   *  Corporate Support (Environment, Energy, Procurement and R&D)
   *  Corporate Strategy, Investment and Business Planning

  Appointments


Kai Korhonen, currently head of the Paper product area, has been appointed
Senior Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Packaging Boards. He continues as a
member of the Executive Management Group (EMG).

Pekka Laaksonen, currently head of the Packaging Boards product area, has been
appointed Senior Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Fine Paper. He continues
as a member of the EMG.

Jussi Huttunen, currently head of Stora Enso Fine Paper, has been appointed
Senior Executive Vice President, Market Services. He continues as a member of
the EMG.

Arno Pelkonen, currently head of Stora Enso Forest Products, has been appointed
Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Emerging Markets. He
continues as a member of the EMG.

Elisabet Salander Bjorklund, currently head of Stora Enso Wood Supply Europe,
has been appointed Senior Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Forest Products.
She becomes a member of the EMG.

Christer Agren, currently head of Corporate Human Resources and TQM, has been
appointed Senior Executive Vice President, IT, HR and Business Excellence. He
becomes a member of the EMG.

Esko Makelainen, CFO and SEVP Finance, Accounting and Legal Affairs, Lars
Bengtsson, SEVP, Stora Enso North America, Bernd Rettig, SEVP, Stora Enso
Publication Paper and Yngve Stade, SEVP, Corporate Support, continue as members
of the EMG.

Per Ericson, currently head of Human Resources in the Paper product area and
head of Human Resources Development within Corporate Human Resources, has been
appointed Executive Vice President, Corporate Human Resources and Business
Excellence. He becomes a member of the Management Group (MG).

Petri Wager, currently head of Market Services, has been appointed head of
Stora Enso Sales Finland and Baltic States as well as sales in Russia.

   For further information, please contact:
   Tim Laatsch, Senior Vice President, Communications,
   Stora Enso North America,
   tel. [phone]

   Scott Deitz, Vice President, Investor Relations,
   Stora Enso North America,
   tel. [phone]



An image bank of pictures that may be freely used to illustrate articles about
Stora Enso is available at http://www.storaenso.com/ > Media Centre > Image
Bank

http://www.storaenso.com/investors

Stora Enso is an integrated paper, packaging and forest products company
producing publication and fine papers, packaging boards and wood products,
areas in which the Group is a global market leader. Stora Enso sales totalled
EUR 12.4 billion in 2004. The Group has some 45 000 employees in more than 40
countries in five continents and an annual production capacity of 16.4 million
tonnes of paper and board and 7.7 million cubic metres of sawn wood products,
including 3.2 million cubic metres of value-added products. Stora Enso's shares
are listed in Helsinki, Stockholm and New York. 

DATASOURCE: Stora Enso Oyj



CONTACT:  Tim Laatsch, Senior Vice President, Communications,

[phone], or Scott Deitz, Vice President, Investor Relations,

[phone], both of Stora Enso North America



Web site: http://www.storaenso.com/

http://www.storaenso.com/investors 

Copyright