
Chairman of the Riga City Council Vilnis Kircis has instructed Executive Director of the City Janis Langa to consider with the municipal enterprise Rīgas meži to consider the possibility of purchasing part of the forests, that the plans to sell the Swedish Forest Owners’ Association and the forestry group Sodra.Sodra announced the plans to sell forest and related enterprises in the Baltic countries. Now the company owns about 153 153 000 hectares of land in Estonia and Latvia (in Latvia – about 135 135
000 hectares). These forests occupy about 2% of the territory of the country. “The situation when large areas of Latvian forests are for sale, I consider both from the strategic point of view at the state level, and from the economic. In the current geopolitical conditions, from the state’s viewpoint, I believe that we must utilize
all opportunities to keep these forests in our ownership. This is a matter of national security, ” Kirsis said. The Self-Governance noted that for Rīgas Meži, the fourth largest forestry enterprise in the country, this will allow to expand its activities
andsetnewtargets.It is expected that theRigaauthoritieswillconsiderthejointacquisitionofforestswithotherbusinessesintheindustry.