Minister of Environment proposes to set up single forestry enterprise

“Forest management must be streamlined to make it transparent and efficient. This is our key goal,” the minister, who is to unveil his vision for a forestry sector reform on Thursday, said in a press release.

All state forests are currently managed by the Directorate General of State Forests and 42 profit-seeking forestry enterprises which employ a total workforce of 4,000, including some 1,200 foresters and 800 administrative staff. The reform will aim to merge the enterprises and cut the administrative apparatus.

The Lithuanian National Audit Office says that the state forestry sector lacks transparency and efficiency.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Lithuania expects to join, also criticizes the forestry sector and recommends consolidating forestry enterprises.

Related Post

OECD Secretary General said during his visit to Vilnius last March that Lithuania’s state-owned enterprises should be managed in a transparent manner and pay dividends, noting, among other things, that the country did not need 43 different enterprises, including the directorate general, to manage its forests.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė has also repeatedly called for merging the forestry enterprises.

The Seimas in April 2015 passed amendments to the Law on Forests, but the parliament lacked the political will to change the number of the forestry enterprises.

The state forestry enterprises posted 12.426 million euros in combined net profits for the first half of 2016, down 1.2 percent year-on-year. Their first-half revenue increased by 2.8 percent to 79.999 million euros. These enterprises basically pay no dividends to the state.

Share

Recent Posts

  • Foreign affairs

“No need to mince words”: an assessment of what Trump’s victory means for Lithuania

"We can shout very loudly, but it won't change the position of the American people,"…

2 days ago
  • Latest

Lies, disrespect and mockery: experts assess Blinkevičiūtė’s “gift” to voters without scruples

From mocking messages flooding social networks to harsh criticism from political experts, the decision of…

1 week ago
  • Foreign affairs

Another year in the sovereign history of Kazakhstan

Republic Day has been celebrated in Kazakhstan as the main national date since 2022, giving…

2 weeks ago
  • Defence

In the assessment of NATO’s readiness for war with Russia, there is also a warning about the Baltic states: what is the Kremlin’s wild card?

According to Lrytas.lt, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) faces a new geopolitical reality with…

2 weeks ago
  • Tribune

The Citus projects: The Kaip Niujorke by CITUS project continues – the spirit of New York unfolds in Vilnius, and the second phase is launching

In September, Citus – a creative real estate projects’ development and placemaking company – began…

2 weeks ago
  • Latest

These parties will enter the Seimas for the third time in a row. How many votes did they lose, and how many did they gain?

As various parties emerge, disappear or reorganize themselves in the political space, the Lithuanian Social…

3 weeks ago