Provisional attachment relating to Boliden Apirsa

The Svea Court of Appeal has declared that the previous decision, made by the local Commercial Court in Seville, regarding provisional attachment to a value of EUR 141 million on assets belonging to Boliden, is enforceable in Sweden. The enforcement can only take place if the other party first provides Boliden with a security to a value of EUR 141 million.

In conjunction with the insolvency proceedings for Boliden’s Spanish subsidiary, Apirsa the local Commercial Court in Seville has, at the request of the receivers, issued provisional attachment relating to assets belonging to companies in the Boliden Group to a total value of EUR 141 million. The receivers have applied to the Svea Court of Appeal for this ruling to be declared enforceable in Sweden. The Svea court of Appeal has, with reference to the rules governing the execution of foreign court orders, declared the decision enforceable in Sweden. The enforcement is however conditional upon that the other party, the receivers, provides Boliden will security to a value of EUR 141 million.

The Svea Court of Appeal has hence not expressed an opinion on the claims for damages made by the bankrupt estate as part of the ongoing process in Spain, ruling only on whether the formal preconditions for the execution in Sweden of provisional attachment have been met. Boliden has previously stated its opinion that the Company will not suffer any substantial financial damage as a result of the legal proceedings arising from the dam breach accident in Spain. This opinion remains unchanged.

For additional background information on the legal proceedings etc. arising from the dam accident at Boliden’s Spanish subsidiary, Apirsa, in 1998, please see Note 22 of Boliden’s 2007 Annual Report and the Boliden press release 2007-06-21.