Swedish businessman becomes Estonia's largest forest owner

A Swedish businessman has emerged as the largest owner of private woodland in Estonia. Jonas Wahlstrom now presides over 23,000 hectares of forest in the Baltic nation after purchasing woods in the region over the last ten years, reports Aripaev.

Baltic Business News claims Mr Wahlstrom has so far kept his intentions for the forestlands behind closed doors and was unavailable to give any comments when approached by reporters.

The second largest owner of woodland in Estonia is Metsamaahalduse AS, with 22,000 hectares of land. The solid economic conditions in the Baltic countries are among the reasons many businesses choose to engage in the forestry sector in this region. Latvia is also a popular choice to investors, particularly after the nation reported the strongest rate of industrial output growth in Europe during 2012.

Data released by the statistics office Centrala statistikas parvalde, the country experienced better financial results than its neighbours with 5.1 per cent growth compared to the previous year. HD FestForest provides forest management in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and is a subsidiary company of HedeDanmark.