Finnish government plans relinquishing majority ownership of Neste

The Finnish government's Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy has proposed a guideline on the state's ownership policy regarding the fuel company Neste.

The Prime Minister's Office holding in Neste Corp. is at the moment 50.1% of the shares and votes.

According to the government's proposal, the Prime Minister's Office's holding in the shares would decrease from 50.1% to 33.4%.

The remaining 16.7% of the Neste shares currently held by the Prime Minister's Office would be transferred to a new development company owned by the government.

"Ownership arrangements are up to the shareholder to decide, and from the company's point of view, we naturally see no obstacle to this, said  Jorma Eloranta, chair of the board of directors at Neste. 

“The planned changes in the shareholding of the State of Finland will not have effects on Neste's business.”

The government aims to approve the decision-in-principle on the state's ownership steering in its plenary meeting on May 13.

The Finnish Parliament decides on ownership limits and changes in them.