RISI, Boston, Mass., USA, announced that Kari Jordan, president and CEO of Metsä Group (Finland) has been named RISI's 2016 European CEO of the Year. RISI will present this award at the European Conference, which will take place in Berlin, Germany, from February 29-March 2, 2016.

RISI's European CEO of the Year is nominated by a group of investment analysts and portfolio managers covering the European and global pulp and paper industry. Jordan has been the president and CEO of Metsä Group since 2006. 

Among the reasons cited by RISI for the award, one analyst pointed out that "under Jordan's leadership, the performance and prospects of Metsä Group have been transformed over the past four to five years. The group was at risk of failing at one point, but the management team made a number of shrewd decisions to turn around the business. Sales were down over that period, but the bottom line and return on investment steadily improved and their investment in the new bioproduct mill is a signature to the renewal of the Finnish forest industry."

Another said that "the Metsä Group story is a great one when you look at where it was just a few short years ago to where it is now. It's a group with a lot going on—the Husum paperboard machine starting up early next year and the really exciting Äänekoski project to name just two. CEO Jordan is a worthy winner this year."

Metsä Group is a forest industry group that operates in international markets. It uses one of the best renewable raw materials in the world—northern wood—responsibly and efficiently. The company’s business operations cover the entire value chain for wood, focusing on tissue and cooking papers, paperboard, pulp, wood products, and wood supply and forest services. Metsä Group is also one of the leading producers and users of bioenergy in Finland.