Nokian Tyres will start statutory negotiations on 14 August with all personnel in Nokian Tyres at Nokia, Finland, concerning a total of 900 people, aimed at rationalising operations.

Nokian Tyres has downgraded its outlook for 2015 due to the weakened economic situation in Russia and CIS countries. Car tyre sales have continued to decline in these areas. The weakened economic situation and the planned production cuts in Nokia plant have created the need to rationalise operations and to execute structural changes.

The agenda of the negotiations includes a plan to decrease the annual output of the passenger car tyre production at the Nokia factory. The company aims to create savings of approximately EUR8m (US$8.73m) per year. The adjustments are planned to be carried out by the reduction of maximum 150 positions.

Ari Lehtoranta, CEO of Nokian Tyres said, “Despite the unfortunate cuts the role of our Nokian factory remains important not only for the volumes it produces but also in developing new products and production processes. Our production volumes are lower this year than last year. The volumes will likely return back to growth next year, but the coming few years’ growth can be managed with the existing unused capacity.”