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Nokia Tyres ex-CEO steps down from SSAB board

Former chief executive of Nokian Tyres Kim Gran has given up his position on the board of directors of the Swedish-Finnish steel company SSAB. Gran, who is said to have presided over a test manipulation scandal at the tyre company, had previously resigned his board membership at the construction firm YIT.

Kim Gran
Kim Gran yhtiön tulosinfon tiedotustilaisuudessa Helsingissä 7. helmikuuta 2014. Image: AOP

Former Nokian Tyres CEO Kim Gran has quit the board of steel company SSAB. On Friday the company issued a stock exchange release in which it revealed that Gran said that he was no longer available to sit on the board of directors.

The board’s nomination committee has named Marika Fredriksson, chief financial officer of the Danish company Vestas Wind Systems, to replace Farm.

Prior to his notification to SSAB that he was no longer available for re-election, Gran had also stepped down from the board of the construction firm YIT.

Years of rigged tyre tests

In February the business daily Kauppalehti reported that Nokian Tyres had manipulated test results for its products for years.

The company had sent media outlets different sets of tyres from the products sold to consumers. The paper alleged that the practice began in 2000; Gran was Nokian Tyres CEO from 2000 to 2014.

Gran has disputed the reports, but his successor Ari Lehtoranta reportedly admitted that the company had rigged the tests, although he denied that the practice continued under his stewardship.

Gran now lives in Portugal, where media reports say he receives a monthly pension of over 30,000 euros.