Norske Skog CEO to deliver keynote at RISI European conference

BRUSSELS, 18 February 2009 - RISI today confirmed that Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, CEO of Norske Skog, will give the keynote speech at RISI's 11th European Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference in Berlin, Germany, to be held March 29-31, 2009. Rynning-Tønnesen was recently selected as RISI's European CEO of the Year and he will be presented with the award on March 30, 2009 at the conference.

"We are excited that Mr. Rynning-Tønnesen will be participating in the RISI European conference program. He is the latest to join the list of high-profile pulp and paper executives who will be speaking at the conference," Justin Toland, Conference Chair and Contributing Editor of PPI magazine commented.

The following speakers have been added to the program:

• Berry Wiersum, CEO, Sappi Fine Paper Europe
• Rinat Starkov, MD, Mondi Syktyvkar
• Salim Karadsheh, CEO, Nuqul Group
• Teresa Presas, Managing Director, CEPI
• Stig Andersen, Senior Forest Industry Analyst, Nordea
• Peter Berg, Director of Knowledge, Paper & Forest Products Practice, McKinsey
• Franz Rappold, Member of the Management Board, Mayr-Melnhof Karton
• Duncan Pollard, Director, Conservation Practice & Policy, WWF International
• Martyn Eustace, Director, Two Sides.

Conference attendees will also hear RISI's team of economists and engineers present their two-year forecasts for supply, demand, profitability, investment and trade for each major grade of pulp and paper.

For more information on the RISI European Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference, visit www.risiinfo.com/euroconf. Early bird deadline runs until February 27th!

Stepchange and CME Group, the operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange, have signed on as official sponsors of the conference.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available for this event. To learn more, please visit http://www.risiinfo.com/events/euro_conf/sponsorship.html or email advertising@risiinfo.com.

About RISI

RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, timber, tissue, nonwovens, printing and publishing industries to help them make better decisions.

Headquartered in Boston (Bedford), Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; São Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; Helsinki, Finland; and Charlottesville, Virginia. More information can be found at www.risiinfo.com