yesterday at 19:00
,Poland
Latvian State Forests (LVM) has become the owner of two companies registered in Latvia — SIA "Gosk Latvia" and SIA "Waldemark". The only asset of both companies is land, and until now they belonged to structures owned by Swedish citizens. The transaction required the consent of the Cabinet of Ministers, which LVM received on 30 June, when the draft order regarding participation in both companies was reviewed.
The acquired forests are dominated by spruce, birch and pine, while part of the area consists of other tree species. Approximately 80 hectares of the total purchased forest area are located in protected territories, while another approx. 600 hectares are agricultural land.
Minister of Agriculture Uldis Augulis emphasised that the transaction has a significant impact on sustainable forest management, regional development and national security. Managing large forest areas will create stable demand for local services and promote economic activity in Latvia’s eastern border region — Latgale, whose strengthening is considered important both from the perspective of economic development and security.
„Every euro invested in the region means not only an investment in forestry, but also an investment in the economic development of Latgale," — Minister of Agriculture Uldis Augulis.
In the coming years, active forest management could provide jobs for local residents and orders for Latvian companies in forestry, transport and related sectors. LVM’s long-term plan foresees that over the next 120 years, the acquired areas could yield approximately 3.45 million cubic metres of quality timber and energy woodchips. The company plans to carry out forest stand tending, forest protection measures and other works to increase forest productivity and capital value for future generations.
LVM has been purchasing land from private individuals and legal entities since 2007, but this is the largest purchase in the company’s history — nearly 5,000 hectares of compactly located forest stands in a single region. Prior to the acquisition, LVM experts carefully assessed the condition of the forest stands, development potential, location, accessibility, restrictions and economic return. SIA "ZAB Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns" and SIA "KPMG Baltics" participated in structuring the transaction and assessing risks.
The transaction was executed as a share purchase, which is a common solution for large-scale land acquisitions in the Baltic Sea region — it allowed avoiding hundreds of separate property purchase procedures. LVM plans to merge both acquired companies into itself through reorganisation.
According to publicly available data, "Gosk Latvia" recorded a turnover of 42,762 euros and losses of 47,854 euros in 2025; until 9 July 2026 it belonged to the Swedish company "Akero Forvaltning". Meanwhile, "Waldemark" reported a turnover of 17,589 euros and losses of 46,374 euros last year and until the same date belonged to the Swedish company "Triola Eslov". Both companies are now owned by LVM.
In 2025, LVM achieved a turnover of 604.585 million euros and a profit of 206.73 million euros — a significant increase compared to the previous year. The company was registered in 1999 and manages state-owned forest land; its sole owner is the state, while the shareholding is held by the Ministry of Agriculture.
