The Finnish state-owned railway company VR on Monday announced the firing of its chief executive officer, Lauri Sipponen. Sipponen's run lasted less than a year, as he only took the job last August.
VR Group's board chairman, Kjell Forsen, declined to reveal why Sipponen had been fired. He told news agency STT that he and Sipponen had agreed to keep the reasoning under wraps, but noted that no illegalities were involved.
Forsen also denied that the CEO's dismissal was connected to decisions the railway company has taken in the past month regarding train traffic to and from Russia.
The railway company announced in March it would suspend commercial services as well as cargo traffic between the two countries.
However, the company backtracked on the decision to suspend cargo services on Wednesday, stating it had received clarification that the UK-imposed sanctions against Russian Railways (RZD) that prompted the decision did not apply to these services.
On Wednesday, Sipponen said that VR made the decisions concerning train traffic between Finland and Russia without consulting its owner, the Finnish state, on the matter.
The director of passenger traffic, Topi Simola, will temporarily take charge of the company's operations while the search for a new executive is underway, VR said.