The group statement says that “Sodra” is looking for possible interested parties in order to move forward in the sales process this year.
Pēters Kārlssons, head of the business area of ”Sodra Skog”, states that the mission of “Sodra” is to take care of the forests of its members, and not to be the owner of the forest itself. “That is why we have proposed a sale and we are currently in the process of finding the right buyer. But we are in no rush,” he said.
In Estonia and Latvia, “Sodra” owns a total of about 153,000 hectares of land, most of which is located in Latvia.
Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze (ZZS) notes on Twitter that Latvia should use this opportunity and purchase the offered forests, adding that it is a matter of national interests, including national security and economic security.
Also, the minister explains that it is an opportunity to safely invest the pension fund funds of Latvian residents in the state’s forests.
Kristaps Klauss, vice-president of the Latvian Timber Industry Federation (LKF), states on Twitter that about once a decade there are opportunities to buy back large areas of Latvian land from the Swedes, and currently about 2% of Latvia’s total area is put on the market.
“It is an ideal moment to create a new, partially state-owned company that would raise capital through the stock exchange for the purchase of this property,” says Klaus.
The vice president of LKF told LETA agency that “Sodra” is currently selling the forest land it owns because the market situation is favorable in order to get a good price for the properties, and also apparently the group is currently planning large investments outside the Baltic countries and in this way “Sodra” is trying to get the means to implement them.
“I really wouldn’t recommend focusing on the question of why they do it, especially when trying to build conspiracy theories about the geopolitical situation,” Klaus emphasized.
He mentioned that in 2018 “Sodra” bought part of the property, which is currently put on the market, and the value of this part at that time was 324 million euros. Currently, the total value of the group’s land put on the market could reach more than 500 million euros. Most of this land is located in Latvia – approximately 135,000 hectares, and in Estonia – 17,000 hectares.
In Klaus’ opinion, the only way to return this land to Latvian ownership at the moment is through the involvement of the state. He mentioned that it could be purchased by AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM), adding that then the Latvian state should realize the size of this amount and no longer take the maximum funds for state budget needs in dividends.
Also, the vice-president of LKF noted that a hybrid model could be implemented, in which the holders of the second pension fund and JSC “Finanšu institucija “Altum”” would participate, which would to some extent buy out this land as a financial asset and, for example, hand it over to LVM for management, earning a return. However, in this case, such a property would have to be re-marketed over time.
“If we want these lands to return to Latvian capital, private or state, it is impossible without the involvement of the Latvian state due to the price,” emphasized Klauss, adding that there is not enough money in LVM’s account to carry out such a transaction at the moment, so it is necessary to think how to raise such capital. As potential opportunities for attracting capital, he mentioned – to list the bonds on the stock exchange, or to create a subsidiary company of LVM and make an initial public offering (IPO) of shares.
It has already been reported that the representative of the “Sodra” group in Latvia, which specializes in forestry and logging, SIA “Sodra Forest Latvia” worked with a turnover of 3.887 million euros in 2023, which is 17.3% more than the year before, but the company suffered losses of 207 in the amount of 084 euros, against the profit a year earlier.
The company “Sodra Forest Latvia” was registered in 2003, and its share capital is 106.026 million euros. The sole owner of the company is the Swedish “Sodra Skogsagarna ekonomic forening”.
attached statement of the Minister of Agriculture Armandas Krauze (ZZS) X 5.-6. in a paragraph