Bowater Promotes Harry F. Geair to Vice President-General Counsel.

Business Editors

GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 20, 2002

Bowater Incorporated (NYSE: BOW) announced the promotion of Harry F. Geair to Vice President-General Counsel. Mr. Geair, 57, will be responsible for coordinating and managing all aspects of the legal functions for Bowater. He joined Bowater in 1992. Previously he was Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Sweetheart Cup Company. Prior to that he was Assistant General Counsel and later Vice President with Continental Forest Industries, Inc. Mr. Geair earned his J.D. degree from Rutgers University. He is a member of the Greenville County and South Carolina bar associations and is admitted to the bars of New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Illinois and is licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bowater Incorporated, headquartered in Greenville, SC, is a global leader in newsprint. In addition, the company makes coated and uncoated groundwood papers, bleached kraft pulp and lumber products. The company has 12 pulp and paper mills in the United States, Canada and South Korea and 13 North American sawmills that produce softwood and hardwood lumber. Bowater also operates two facilities that convert a groundwood base sheet to coated products. Bowater's operations are supported by approximately 1.5 million acres of timberlands owned or leased in the United States and Canada and 33 million acres of timber cutting rights in Canada. Bowater is one of the world's largest consumers of recycled newspapers and magazines. Bowater common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, U.S. regional exchanges and the London Stock Exchange. A special class of stock exchangeable into Bowater common stock is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE: BWX).