VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – June 3, 2010) – Fortress Paper Ltd. (TSX:FTP) (“Fortress Paper” or the “Corporation”) announces the following appointments at its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fortress Specialty Cellulose Inc. (“Fortress Specialty”): Peter Vinall as President and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Byrne as Vice President, Technical Development and Donald Deer as Projects Leader. In addition, Fortress Specialty has added Pierre Monahan to its Board of Directors.

In announcing the appointments, Chad Wasilenkoff, CEO of Fortress Paper commented: “We are very pleased to have someone of Peter Vinall’s extensive experience and track record joining our team. His appointment brings a wealth of experience in running some of the largest dissolving pulp mills in the world and he has a talent for building strong teams and leading business transformations. With Vince Byrne, Donald Deer, Marco Veilleux and Pierre Monahan, we will have an experienced team in place to implement our business plan at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill.”

Peter Vinall commented: “Having recently relocated back to Canada, I am excited to now join the Fortress team and lead the conversion of the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill into a high quality specialty cellulose mill. The Mill has good access to fibre supply and a reputation for high quality NBHK production which will continue with the restart which is underway. Our aim is to leverage these strengths and transform the asset base with extensive technological upgrades and a state of the art cogeneration facility with the goal of becoming a low cost producer and industry leader in the specialty cellulose sector.”

Mr. Vinall has approximately 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry and was the former President of Sateri International Pulp Group, a global leader in the specialty cellulose business. Prior to joining Fortress Specialty, Mr. Vinall held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of AV Group where he led the conversion of an NBHK pulp mill to produce dissolving pulp. Mr. Vinall obtained an MBA from Tulane University, New Orleans, and a B.E in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Vincent Byrne has over 30 years of engineering, operations and process optimization experience focused on commodity and specialty pulping processes. Most recently he acted as VP Technical and Engineering at AV Group where he led the development of the conversion of one of their New Brunswick mills into a dissolving pulp operation. Mr. Byrne obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Massey University, New Zealand.

Donald Deer has approximately 40 years of engineering and construction experience in Canada and has managed in excess of $1 billion in capital spending for several major corporations including Tembec Inc. Most recently, Mr. Deer was responsible for construction and completion of the conversion of one of AV Group’s NBHK mills into a dissolving pulp operation. Mr. Deer also has recent experience designing cogeneration and energy optimization projects. Donald Deer has a B.E in Electrical Engineering from Queens University, Ontario and is a member of Professional Engineers Ontario.

Pierre Monahan is a highly experienced senior board member and executive director. Mr. Monahan was formerly the CEO of Alliance Forest Products Inc. and Executive Vice President of Bowater Canada Inc. during which time he oversaw its integration with Alliance Forest Products Inc., an acquisition valued at approximately $1 billion.

In addition Fortress announces that the former Operations Director of Fraser Paper’s Thurso Mill, Marco Veilleux, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Fortress Specialty Cellulose. Mr. Veilleux has led the Thurso operation since 2007 having developed his career in a series of operational and technical leadership roles in the pulp and paper sector in Eastern Canada. He was instrumental in initiating the cogeneration project and ensuring the Thurso assets are well positioned for the transformation. Mr. Veilleux has a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Sherbrooke.

About Fortress Paper

Fortress Paper is a leading international producer of security and other specialty papers and products. Fortress Paper operates three mills, the Landqart Mill located in Switzerland, the Dresden Mill located in Germany and the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill located in Quebec, Canada. Fortress Paper’s security papers include banknote, passport and visa papers and its specialty papers include non-woven wallpaper base products, and graphic and technical papers. Fortress Paper’s pulp business will include NBHK with the re-start of the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill with plans to convert this capacity into dissolving pulp production along with the construction of a biomass based cogeneration plant.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Fortress Paper with respect to its performance, business and future events, including statements relating to its plans to re-start, convert and build a biomass based cogeneration plant at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the industry and markets in which the Corporation operates, including assumptions relating to the Corporation’s ability to successfully implement its business plan in respect of the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill; that the Corporation will be able to receive all required approvals and complete construction of the cogeneration facility; and the expected effects of the cogeneration facility on the business of the Corporation. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, that the Corporation will be unable to implement its business plan in respect of the Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill as planned or at all; that the Corporation will be unable to receive all necessary approvals to begin construction of the cogeneration facility; and those risks relating to changes in the market, potential downturns in economic conditions, fluctuations in the price and supply of raw materials, foreign exchange fluctuations, labour relations, regulatory requirements, reputation, competition, dependence on major customers, and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Corporation’s public filings. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Fortress Paper does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.

SOURCE:
Fortress Paper Ltd.