The Board of Directors of AvestaPolarit Oyj Abp has at its meeting today decided to authorise Chief Executive Officer Ossi Virolainen to apply for the delisting of AvestaPolarit shares from the Helsinki and Stockholm stock exchanges.

It is expected that the delisting process will be completed earliest at the end of calendar year 2002 and latest as soon as all outstanding shares in AvestaPolarit have been acquired by Outokumpu.

For further information, please contact:
Hannele Öbrink, Manager - Investor Relations
Tel.: +46 (0)8 613 4419 or +46 (0)70 652 1032.
e-mail: hannele.obrink@avestapolarit.com