Fifax and the Finnish Food Authority have on 13 October 2022 signed a service agreement regarding the sanitation work at the Eckerö facility according to the sanitation plan confirmed by the authorities. The plan has been prepared in close collaboration with Fifax, and its objective is to eliminate the IHN virus, which was discovered in June, from the facility. The Finnish Food Authority will order a significant part of the sanitation work from Fifax, and the estimated total value of the contract is approximately EUR 900,000.

This includes work by Fifax that is invoiced on an hourly basis to the amount of approximately EUR 600,000. The final amount will be specified according to the actual work completed, and the payments will be made in installments as the sanitation progresses. In addition, Fifax is entitled to seek compensation for equipment that has been destroyed as part of the sanitation or that has become unusable due to the measures.

The sanitation work starts on 17 October 2022 and is estimated to take approximately ten weeks to complete. After the sanitation is complete, the facility is required to be kept empty for a minimum of 6 weeks, after which tests have to be conducted at the facility so that the authorities can determine that the facility is safe for a restar of fish farming operations. While the sanitation work progresses, Fifax continues to prepare for the restart of production.