Latvia has bought back a forest from its Swedish owners for 26 million euros

The Latvian Ministry of Agriculture announced on Monday that the country’s state-owned enterprise “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) had purchased almost 5,000 hectares of forest land in Pasiene parish, Ludza region, from its former Swedish owners for just over 26 million euros.

As stated by the ministry, changes were registered in the Register of Enterprises last weekend, whereby LVM became the owner of two companies registered in Latvia, whose sole asset is land and which previously belonged to Swedish citizens. Under the law, government approval was required to acquire these companies, which LVM received on 30 June.

According to the Ministry, the acquisition of these forest lands will strengthen the sustainability of state forest management and, in the long term, provide additional high-quality timber resources for the Latvian economy.

One hectare of land cost an average of 4,500 euros. A total of 5,800 hectares of land were acquired, of which 4,800 hectares are forest.

The Ministry of Agriculture noted that LVM has been purchasing land from private individuals and legal entities since 2007, but this is the largest single purchase in the company’s history. The Ministry added that LVM will merge both acquired companies into LVM.