History
Neste was established in 1948 as the state petrol company of Finland, to ensure the availability of advanced fuel. This entailed the building of refineries and developing the necessary technology. It held a legal import monopoly until the market liberalization in the 1990s. The oil transport infrastructure in Finland was built and is owned by Neste, and thus petrol stations usually obtain fuels from Neste, although the monopoly is no longer government-sanctioned. In the 1970s, Neste introduced petrochemical and plastics production and natural gas to Finland. In 1994, Gasum was established with Gazprom as the minor (25%) shareholder. In 1994, polyolefin production was separated into Borealis, a joint venture with the Norwegian Statoil. In 1998, Neste's 50% stake in Borealis was sold to OMV and IPIC.
In 1998, Neste Oyj merged with the power company Imatran Voima Oy to create Fortum Oyj. After merger Neste's chemical operations were transferred to newly established company Neste Chemicals, which was sold to investment firm Industri Kapital for about $535 million. Engineering division Neste Jacobs was established with American Jacobs Engineering in 2004. In 2005, the oil division of Fortum was transferred to re-established Neste Oil. The State of Finland maintains controlling interest (50.1%) in the company.
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