The board of A/s “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) has received an assessment from an independent expert – the law firm EY LAW SIA, a member of the Ernst&Young Global Limited network – regarding the LVM board nomination process, confirming that it was carried out in accordance with external regulatory requirements.

Upon receiving the assessment results, Edmunds Beļskis, Chairman of the LVM board, confirmed: “Given the planned organisation of the selection process for the fifth LVM board member, the LVM board initiated an evaluation of the existing board nomination process. The assessment of the LVM board nomination process clearly confirms that the process has been compliant with regulatory requirements and the principles of good international practice.”

Following the completion of the board nomination process, the LVM board requested an independent expert – the law firm EY LAW SIA – to evaluate the LVM board nomination process. The assessment analysed the actions taken by the LVM board to ensure the board nomination process and the compliance of these actions with the requirements of external regulations and good corporate governance practice. Furthermore, the expert analysed the actions taken by the nomination committee and the engaged experts to ensure the board nomination process, and the compliance of these actions with the requirements of external regulations and good corporate governance practice. The documentation related to the selection process maintained by the LVM board and the nomination committee – such as orders, minutes, etc. – was also analysed. To conduct the assessment, the expert used the Law on the Governance of Capital Shares of a Public Person and Capital Companies, the Cabinet of Ministers regulations issued on the basis of the law, the guidelines of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre, the Corporate Governance Code developed by the Ministry of Justice, and other requirements as a basis, taking into account that LVM is a public limited company. While evaluating the board appointment procedure, and without substantively assessing the candidates for the board positions or their compliance with the specific criteria of the competition, the expert concluded that the process was compliant with regulatory requirements, while noting areas where transparency could be increased in the future.

This year, the LVM board also organised an assessment of the LVM corporate governance system to ensure that the existing system complies with the principles and criteria of the Corporate Governance Code. An independent expert firm was hired to provide the service; it conducted an assessment of the LVM corporate governance system and, in May 2022, provided an opinion on the compliance of the LVM corporate governance system with the good governance standard – the principles and criteria of the Corporate Governance Code, for which the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia set an application requirement in March 2022, in accordance with changes in the regulatory framework. The assessors concluded that the goal of the LVM corporate governance system's compliance has been achieved – the LVM corporate governance system complies with all 17 principles and criteria of the Corporate Governance Code, and there is only room for improvement in isolated cases.

In the 2022 budget of A/s “Latvijas valsts meži”, it is planned that the company's revenue will reach 471.6 million euros this year, while profit will reach 163.1 million euros. In the first six months, LVM's revenue was 267.6 million euros, which is 83 million euros more compared to the same period last year. The company's total profit for the first 6 months of 2022 before corporate income tax is 133.1 million euros.