On Friday morning Helsingin Sanomat’s more populist sister publication, Ilta-Sanomat, quotes Timo Rothovius, high-profile professor of business and finance at the University of Vaasa, on the Talvivaara debacle. He warns the estimated 80,000 Finns who hold shares in Talvivaara that they’ll never see a penny from the venture.
As he puts it bluntly: “there’s nothing left in the company besides massive debts” – more than a billion euros’ worth.
Trading in the firm’s stock was halted on Thursday in Helsinki. At the moment each share is worth three cents.
On Thursday evening Espoo District Court declared the company’s main subsidiary, Talvivaara Sotkamo, to be bankrupt – a step that Rothovius declared was “no surprise”.
Aerial high jinks over Rovaniemi
The Rovaniemi daily Lapin Kansa also leads with comments from Rothovius, saying that Talvivaara had “systematically promised too much and misled shareholders”.
On a happier note, the Lapland daily is tracking a pair of white-tailed sea eagles who seem to have settled down in the centre of Rovaniemi, capital of Finnish Lapland. On Thursday birdwatchers were excited to witness one of the raptors nabbing a seagull over the Ounaskoski falls.
Ornithologist Jorma Halonen from the West Lapland municipality of Pello estimates that one herring gull is enough food for an eagle for a day. He suspects that there may be more than one pair of sea eagles nesting in the Rovaniemi area – which is 120 km from the nearest shoreline at Kemi.
Halonen adds that white-tailed eagles are no longer rare, even in inland Finland. In the 1970s, though, they nearly disappeared from the country, with as few as four eaglets hatching in some years. The population has recovered due to tougher laws against pollution and poaching.
Lotto win forces 1st flight
Lapin Kansa also reports on a pensioner from Sodankylä who won 1.3 million euros in a September Lotto drawing. To confirm his win, he had to travel to the Helsinki area – his first-ever airplane flight.
“Then I had to fly back. Luckily I didn’t have to travel with a suitcase bulging with cash. They paid it directly into my account,” he told the paper, sounding like a character from an Aki Kaurismäki film.
The newly-minted millionaire has managed to keep a low profile so far in the village. He does not have any immediate plans to spend the money.
“At least I’m not planning any trips. That would mean more flying,” he says laconically.
The understatement of the morning, though, comes from the commuter freesheet Metro. Below the celebrity, local transport and weather stories, in a small headline near the bottom of its front page, it mentions that “Talvivaara is having difficulties”.