PONSSE PLC PRESS RELEASE 18 SEPTEMBER 2008 PONSSE STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE EUROPEAN FOREST RESEARCH Ponsse Plc strengthens its support to international forest research. Since 2006 the company has supported European forest researchers through scholarships awarded through the so-called Ponsse-Fund. A new Ponsse-Fund agreement for the period 2009-2013 was recently signed. Subsequently, an international call for the Ponsse PhD scholarship is opened at the annual assembly of the European Forest Institute (EFI) held in Orvieto, Italy, on the 18th of September. The research topic should be related to the role of modern forest technologies in sustainable development and the award winning candidate will be able to work at the EFI headquarters located in Joensuu, Finland. ”Ponsse is known for its reliability and technical innovations. The company has also wisely invested in the improvement of the knowledge and know-how at all levels of the production and development. Therefore, the support to the international research is a natural continuation of the training and development policy”, asserts Dr. Risto Päivinen, Director of EFI. The Ponsse-Fund was created to be at the forefront of the changes within the forestry and natural resources sectors. For instance, climate change and the recent changes in the wintertime harvesting conditions pose new challenges to the technical development. In addition, “The technologies and harvesting methods applied in different countries vary considerably. Through the support to the international research we both increase our knowledge of the local conditions in different regions and support the technological development internationally”, states Juho Nummela, president and CEO of Ponsse Plc. The Ponsse-Fund is managed by the Foundation for the European Forest Research located in Joensuu, Finland. Research areas within the Fund and the call to be opened are: • Development and transfer of new forest technologies to European and global conditions. • Socio-economic and environmental impacts of applying high-tech in forestry operations. • Contribution of new technologies and logistical solutions to improve sustainability impacts of production of forest products and bioenergy. Annually the Ponsse-Fund allocates an amount of 17,000-26,000€ for international research. The current Ponsse-scholarship holder is Mr Vadim Goltsev with the research topic “Estimation of Potential Use of Energy Wood in the Leningrad Region of Russia”. Previously Ponsse-Fund has supported the PhD research of Mr Marcin Pisarek (The implementation of the harvesting and wood-to-energy technologies in the forest industry in CEE. Case study - the mechanized harvesting costs in Poland with harwarders). Further information: Jari Mononen, Communications Director, Ponsse Plc. Tel. +358 20 768 8858, Email: jari.mononen@ponsse.com Dr. Janna Puumalainen, Executive secretary, Foundation for the European Forest Research. Tel: +358 50 5115028, Email: janna.puumalainen@jns.fi The full call of the Ponsse-Fund scholarship: http://www.fefr.org/ European Forest Institute: www.efi.int Ponsse Plc.: www.ponsse.com