Suuri savotta / The Forest Cartel Case

Jani Salminen: Suuri savotta / The Forest Cartel Case.

National Competition 3
Tampere International Film Festival (TFF)
Plevna 5, Tampere, 5 March 2020.
    Q&A after the screening with Jani Salminen and Reijo Lahtonen.

SUURI SAVOTTA
THE FOREST CARTEL CASE

Jani Salminen | Finland 2020 | Documentary | 63 min

TFF: "Over 70 % of Finland’s surface area is covered by forest. The forest sector is huge in Finnish economy and culture. On May 1, 2004 a new competition law with leniency procedure was passed. Immediately after UPM Kymmene informed Competition and Consumer Authority that it had been running a wood purchasing cartel. Reijo Lahtonen sees an opportunity to claim millions in compensation in court."

"Metsäkoneyrittäjä Reijo Lahtonen näkee tilaisuuden vaatia miljoonakorvauksia metsäyhtiöiltä, kun Suomen metsäjättiläset jäävät kiinni puunostokartellin ylläpidosta vuosina 1997-2004. Alkaa pitkä ja väsyttävä oikeustaistelu joka kestää 6 vuotta ja käy kaikissa oikeusasteissa." (TFF)

AA: A documentary film about the biggest legal process in the history of Finland. The three biggest forest industry companies - UPM Kymmene, Stora Enso and Metsä Group - were convicted for running a wood purchasing cartel. But no compensation was paid to the small forest owners. They sued the companies but finally lost the case in a multi-stage, multi-annual, exhausting and prolonged process.

The complex story is condensed into a highly interesting one hour film. I have been tracking bits and pieces of the story over the years, but this was my first opportunity to have an overview. It's not the complete story because the companies refused to comment.

The story is very serious and important. One of the big themes is law and justice. The big companies have superior financial resources, and they can employ Big Law - the best and the most expensive law firms, with their armiers of top lawyers. They have more resources for their case than the judges and other attorneys at the courts of law.

Watching this film we cannot help but realize that the companies knew themselves that they were breaking the law and the social contract based on justice, but with their superior financial resources they were able to sidetrack the legal process, confuse the proceedings and focus on technicalities. The very prolongation turned too exhausting for small forest owners to endure.

This film is not a critique of capitalism, on the contrary. The cartel system is preventing the free functioning of capitalism based on free enterprise and competition.

I look forward to learning more.