Bergvik Skog closes on forest deal

  • 2014-02-03
  • From wire reports, RIGA

Bergvik Skog has announced that it is buying 1,800 hectares of forest in Latvia from Skogssallskapet in a deal which, for both parties, allows for rationalization and concentration of their forest holdings in the country.

 

Bergvik Skog was established in Latviain 2008; after this transaction its holdings will include 107,000 hectares in Latvia.

 

The deal is in line with Bergvik Skog’s strategy to generate large rational units of highly productive forestland with a balanced distribution.

 

“We are very pleased with the completed transaction; Latviais a good country to pursue forestry in and there is a steadily growing forest industrial sector,” said Lars-George Hedlund, CEO of Bergvik Skog SIA.

 

Skogssallskapet has worked in Latviafor 11 years and manages 65,000 hectares, of which 11,000 hectares will be owned after the deal. The deal is in line with the Foundation Skogssallskapet's mission, to be in accordance with the Foundation’s objective of promoting good forestry and nature conservation. The deal enables Skogssallskapet to take on new property and to additionally improve forest management in Latvia.

 

Latviaexports about 17 billion SEK per year in forest production. In Latviathere are 3 million hectares of forest, of which about 200,000 hectares are owned by Swedish companies. The forestry sector has roughly the same significance in Latviaas in Swedenand Finland.