Our task was to create a national-scale company within two months, capable of ensuring forest management across 1.6 million hectares of land, which accounts for 25% of Latvia's territory. The idea that this could be achieved was crazy enough that the decision-makers at the time did not believe it was even possible. It was not a place where you could walk in wearing a white shirt, announce that “I am the boss now, and you will listen to me”, and walk happily around the world, receiving bouquets of flowers from admirers.

However, we succeeded – by the first working day of 2000, we already had about 400 people in the company. Minimal functionality was ensured, and timber supplies to companies were not interrupted.