Riga, Jan 27 (LETA) - Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) has instructed the city's Executive Director Janis Lange to assess with the municipal forest manager Rigas Mezi the possibility of purchasing a part of the forests in Latvia, which will be sold by Sweden's largest forest owners' association and forest industry group Sodra, LETA learned from the Riga City Council.

"I consider the situation in which large areas of Latvian forest are up for sale both strategically at the national level and economically. In the current geopolitical conditions, from a national perspective, I believe that we should use every opportunity to keep these forests in our ownership - it is a matter of national security," Kirsis said.

The municipality notes that this would be an opportunity for Rigas Mezi, the country's fourth largest forest manager, to expand its activities and set new ambitions.

In order to be able to make a competitive offer and taking into account the national interest, Rigas Mezi will give priority to assessing the areas available for the transaction in the forest areas adjacent to the forests already owned by the company.

In addition, the possibility of joint forest acquisitions with other companies in the sector, including the state, will be discussed in order to assess the potential of the business and the potential to contribute to the achievement of the country's climate and biodiversity objectives.

Sodra, Sweden's largest forest owners' association and forest industry group, has announced plans to sell forest properties and related businesses in the Baltic states. Sodra owns a total of about 153,000 hectares of land in Estonia and Latvia, most of which - about 135,000 hectares - is in Latvia. These forests cover about 2 percent of the territory of our country.