Düsseldorf/Dortmund (dpa/lnw) - In the case of the multi-million dollar cartel lawsuit by 32 sawmills against the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Ministry of Agriculture formally informed around 800 forest owners about the lawsuit on Tuesday. The Ministry of Agriculture announced that you now have the opportunity to stand by the side of the country in order to go together in the further legal dispute against the sawmills. But they are not obliged to do so. "If you decide not to join, there are no immediate costs," it said.
The sawmill companies had joined together to form a "compensation company for the sawmill industry in North Rhine-Westphalia" and in April 2020 filed an antitrust lawsuit for damages against the state of North Rhine-Westphalia at the Dortmund Regional Court. According to the ministry, they are claiming damages of around 187 million euros due to allegedly excessive wood prices. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia rejects this as unfounded. The proceedings are still pending at the LG Dortmund (Az. 8 O 7/2020). A hearing was scheduled for June. A court spokesman said there were no comment periods.
In the course of the so-called notice of dispute, the 800 private forest owners, forest cooperatives and municipalities would shortly receive a corresponding letter from the district court, the ministry announced. At the time, these 800 forest owners had participated in the timber marketing at that time with a significant net turnover. The background is a cooperative timber marketing practiced in the past, in which the country not only marketed its own wood, but also wood from municipalities and private owners.
