The State to sell the Harakka railway yard in Imatra

The Government has approved the request by the Transport Infrastructure Agency to sell the State-owned Harakka railway yard in Imatra to Stora Enso Oyj for EUR 2.067 million. 

The railway yard will be sold because the State has no use for it. Private railway tracks owned by Stora Enso lead from the yard to Stora Enso's factory, which is currently the sole user of the yard. There are no plans to use the yard for anything else and its use is therefore not expected to change significantly in the future. The aim is that the substantial repair investments and maintenance costs required by the yard in the next few years will not fall on the State in the future.

The purchase price would total approximately EUR 2.067 million, which corresponds to the fair value of the assets. It has been ensured through notification procedures that there are no other willing buyers. No other offers have been submitted. The assets include the Harakka railway yard, tracks and gears of the railway yard, electrical track and track foundation. The area is 10.7 hectares. As a result of the sale, the yard will be converted from a State rail network to a private railway.

The Harakka railway yard was built in the 1970s to serve rail transport mainly to the factories in Kaukopää, and it is still used for that purpose. The area was put into railway use in 1892 for the tracks at the port of Vuoksi at the north end of the Vyborg-Antrea-Imatra railway line. According to the Budget Act, a sale of movable assets worth more than EUR 1 million is subject to the approval of the Government.

Next steps

The Government gave its approval for the sale of the property on 4 February 2021. Transport Infrastructure Agency can now transfer the railway yard to Stora Enso Oyj for the amount agreed.

Inquiries:

Kaisa Kuukasjärvi, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Transport and Communications, tel. +358 295 342 030, [email protected], Twitter @KuuKaisa

Antti Castrén, Chief Specialist, Transport Infrastructure Agency, tel. +358 40 829 9851, [email protected]