“Latvijas valsts meži” takes legal action over the termination of historical long-term logging contracts - Zeme un valsts
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“Latvijas valsts meži” takes legal action over the termination of historical long-term logging contracts

Latvijas valsts meži | 02.02.2026

Taking into account the views and guidance of the Competition Council (KP) on ensuring free and fair competition in the timber market, the joint-stock company “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) has filed a claim with the court seeking to have the long-term logging contracts (IML) declared invalid, while also asking the court to suspend the operation of the IML until the court’s ruling takes effect.

Since 2020, the Competition Council has been carrying out an investigation into the long-term logging contracts concluded by the State Forest Service and taken over and administered by the joint-stock company “Latvijas valsts meži” in accordance with the law.

A meeting between the KP and LVM took place on 19 December 2025, and on 9 January 2026 LVM received a letter from the KP setting out its view on the competition law risks created by the IML.

In deference to the guidance issued by the KP, LVM has filed a claim with the court seeking to have the IML declared invalid, while also asking the court to suspend the operation of the IML until the court’s ruling takes effect.

The IML already have a history of more than 30 years

The background to the IML stretches back long before LVM was founded, and the origins of these contracts have no connection with the process of establishing the company or with its operations. When LVM was founded 26 years ago, the State Forest Service Law stipulated that the company had to take over the obligations arising from the IML. It is important to note that during its operations LVM has not concluded a single new IML; it has only administered the historical ones.

Ever since it began operating, LVM has sought ways to have the long-term logging contracts annulled, considering the disproportionately long contract terms and the manner in which they were extended by the regional units of the State Forest Service – the district forestry offices – to be unlawful.

LVM challenged the extended IML terms in 2000 and 2001 by taking the matter to court. At the time, the court rejected these claims and imposed an obligation on LVM to continue fulfilling the obligations arising from the IML.

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