Kemijärvi Biorefinery Ltd has named Finnish executive Sampsa Lahtinen to its board of directors, effective January 1, 2026.
The appointment brings more than three decades of international leadership experience to the company as it moves forward with its large-scale biorefinery project in northern Finland.
Lahtinen recently retired from Vaisala Oyj, where he headed the Industrial Measurements division from 2013 to 2024 and oversaw a period of significant global expansion. His earlier career includes senior posts at Nokia in Europe, Hong Kong and Latin America, notably as Managing Director of Nokia México and as Head of Vodafone Group Business.
Founder Harri Vatanen said Lahtinen’s track record in scaling operations and his deep experience in the Americas will be valuable as Kemijärvi Biorefinery builds international markets for its future output. The Americas are seen as a key growth region for the company’s biobased products.
Kemijärvi Biorefinery is planning a next-generation industrial site that would produce around 700,000 tonnes per year of fibre pulp, dissolving pulp and other bioproducts from high-quality northern wood, with a strong emphasis on efficient raw material use and low-emission processes. Located in a major forest region, the project aims to tap sustainably managed local wood resources while maximising value from all process streams in cooperation with technology partners.
According to the company, the Kemijärvi site is being developed as an ecological flagship, combining circular-economy principles, bio-based fuels and materials, and advanced recovery of side streams. If realised as planned, the biorefinery is expected to play a notable role in Finland’s forest-based bioeconomy and regional employment in eastern Lapland.
Source: Kemijärvi Biorefinery
