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The Annual General Meeting of Neova Oy annually appoints a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 members to the company’s Board of Directors in the manner specified in the Shareholders’ Agreement between the company’s owners. The chairman and vice chairman are appointed in the manner stipulated by the Shareholders’ Agreement. The company does not deem it necessary to provide information on candidates for Board of Directors membership because the company only has two shareholders that participate in the selection process. The appointment of the Board members complies with the guidelines concerning the realization of diversity issued by the Ownership Steering Department of the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office and the General Meeting has appointed a Shareholders’ Nomination Board to prepare matters pertaining to the appointment and remuneration of the Board of Directors.

Neova Oy’s Board of Directors sees to the administration of the company and the appropriate organization of its operations. The Board of Directors is also responsible for the appropriate arrangement of the control of the company accounts and finances. Neova Oy’s Board of Directors is responsible for managing and supervising Neova in accordance with the Limited Liability Companies Act, the Articles of Association, the Board’s charter and the shareholders’ instructions in such a way that the decisions are in the company’s interest and support the growth of the company’s value.

The Board members shall have the necessary skills and competencies required for the Board work and shall have sufficient time to devote to the task. The Board must ensure that it has adequate information at its disposal to attend to its duties. The Board must ensure that the Group operates in accordance with approved business principles and sets targets in an ethical manner.

The Board appoints and discharges the CEO, supervises the CEO’s work and decides on the CEO’s remuneration and other terms of employment. The Board also appoints and discharges the CEO’s direct subordinates and decides on their remuneration. In addition, the Board decides on the mission, strategy and values of the Company and monitors the realization thereof and approves the company’s operating policies.

The Board organizes the internal audit and prepares the audit plan in collaboration with the CEO. The Board monitors and assesses its working methods with annual internal assessments.

The Board also decides on significant expansions and contractions of operations as well as material investments, other long-term expenditure, assignments of property and financing arrangements as well as impairments of assets. Board meetings are attended by the CEO as a presenter and the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Other members of the Group Management Team and senior management attend the meetings when necessary. The Chief Legal Officer acts as the Secretary of the Board of Directors.

The main tasks of the Board of Directors are specified in the Board’s charter (Appendix 2).

For members of the Board of Directors appointed on proposal by the State, the preferred duration of the term is 5–7 years pursuant to the Government Resolution on State Ownership Policy.

FY 2023 At Neova Oy’s Annual General Meeting held on 29 March 2023, Tuomas Hyyryläinen, Jari-Pekka Punkari, Kirsi Puntila, Panu Routila, Markus Tykkyläinen and Eeva-Liisa Virkkunen, were appointed to the Board of Directors. Panu Routila was appointed as Chairman and Tuomas Hyyryläinen as Vice Chairman.

Markus Tykkyläinen resigned from the Board of Directors of Neova Oy and its Audit Committee on 23 December 2023.

On 19 December 2023 the shareholders’ meeting of Neova Oy appointed Stefan Damlin as Board members as from 1 January 2024.

The Board of Directors convened 21 times during the financial year 2023. The members’ attendance in the meetings of the Board of Directors is shown in the table below. Key themes and issues dealt with by the Board of Directors included safety, restructuring of business operations, operational efficiency initiatives as well as the general market, enterprise risk management, energy peat demand and availability, security of supply, EU legislation processes in relation to the use of peat as raw material, the start-up of the Activated Carbon production plant in Ilomantsi, changes in the Group structure, sustainability and reviewing the strategy.

The members of the Board of Directors do not hold any shares in Neova Oy or its subsidiaries and they are independent of the company. According to the Board’s assessment, Jari-Pekka Punkari is not independent of major shareholders as he is employed by the State owner. All other Board members are independent of major shareholders.

The remuneration of the Board of Directors is described in more detail in the section Remuneration of Senior Management.

NameMember of the
Board of Directors 
Attendance in the meetings
FY2023
Member in Committees 
and attendance in the meetings
FY2023
Audit Committee Personnel Committee Strategy Committee
Panu Routila
Born 1964
M.Sc. (Econ.)
Professional Board Member
7/2021- Member   3/2022- Chairman21/21Member 1/1Chairman 10/10Chairman 12/12
Tuomas Hyyryläinen
Born 1977
M.Sc. (Econ.)
CEO, Pihlajalinna Oyj
2016- Member   3/2023- Vice Chairman21/21Member
1/1
Member
6/7
Member 12/12
Markus Tykkyläinen
Born 1973
M.Sc. (Eng.), M.Sc. (Econ.), eMBA
Managing Director,
Suur-Savon Sähkö Oy
2016-12/2023 Member

2017-3/2023 Vice Chairman
20/21Member
11/11
  
Stefan Damlin
Born 1968
M.Sc. (Econ.)
Managing Director,
Vaasan Sähkö Oy
2020-3/2023
Member
3/4Member 3/3 
Jari-Pekka Punkari
Born 1965
M.Sc. (Econ.)
Negotiating Officer
Prime Minister’s Office
3/2022- member21/2110/10 Member 12/12
Kirsi Puntila
Born 1970
M.Sc. (Econ.)
Senior Vice President, Anora Group Oyj
2018- Member20/21Member
9/10
 
Eeva-Liisa Virkkunen Born 1957 M.Sc. (Econ.) Professional Board Member3/2022- member21/21Chairman 11/11