Renewable energy (53.19ha)

100% Funded

Summary

Borrower is willing to attract Working capital for 6 months of 180000, - EUR for buying of 53,19ha of forestland in Vidzeme. Forest property is located along side governmental road, have access rights to the land, consists of 41,19ha forest land and 12,00ha agricultural land.  Mature stand of alder, birch, spruce trees total of 3890m3. This working capital will be secured with pledge on bought property. Property will be a part of customized 320ha forest land portfolio, tailored by investor requests, where financing will be implemented by Crowdestor, closing this deal is planned by the Q2 of year 2020. 

Loan

Target: EUR 180 000,00 
Loan term: 6 months. 
Interest rate: 18% per annum. 
Interest payments: paid quarterly 
Loan repayment: In full at the end of the Loan Term. 
Crowdestor BuyBack fund: Yes 
Security:

• The loan is secured by a private guarantee by a shareholder of the Company;
• The loan is secured with 53.19ha forest land.

Remember - interest rate payments start calculating from the day you make your investment!

Borrower

The year 2019 has been bountiful for the company ''Meža Enerģija''. It has grown significantly in all areas of the forestry business – portfolio management, cutting capacity, and attracted new experts in the field. Cutting capacity was carried out according to the long-term investment plans in new machinery units. The firm 2019 has doubled employees’ number in 2019, attracted experts in the forestry field, and in the customer relations field to cover the growth of the company. The company has invested in closer monitoring of the feeling and timber management processes to satisfy the demands of the FSC® certification, responsible forestry, and overseas markets. November 2019 was seen approval for Meža Enerģija achievements, after a year of hard work, have received long waited for FSC® Forest Management (FM), as recognition of long-term guideline implementation in responsible forestry, customer protection, and business economic justification. Main export partners are still in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, where FSC®FM certified forestry products are in high demand.

Nevertheless, in 2019 ‘’Meža Enerģija’’ has put in additional efforts to establish themselves as a trustworthy partner in the Baltic state's market. The company growth has not gone without notice in the homeland, after strict procurement procedure, the enterprise has landed a 4-year state contract for clearing abandoned agrarian properties with the modernized feeling units.

The company has increased its managed property base and currently operates more than 1500 ha of FSC®FM certified forest properties around Latvia. That allows us to negotiate for even better conditions for the customer for Roundwood deliveries. That, in turn, helped to attract forest investor group interest for customized forest land portfolio preparing in the period 2020-2022.

Company’s offered services

Sustainability is not just a definition for SIA ‘’Meža Enerģija’’ – it’s their lifestyle. They restore forests by replacing low-value stands with high-quality ones through planting and sowing. They manage undergrowth, drainage systems, driveways, etc. They provide sanitary cutting in mitigated and damaged stands. They give the forest a fresh breath of air, starting with clear-cuts, logging and forest planting. They purchase forest properties all over the territory of Latvia by individually evaluating every forest stand. They can manage both private and municipal properties. 
 

Woodchip and sawdust export

SIA ‘’Meža Enerģija’’ offers local knowledge and worldwide coverage throughout all logistical areas. They provide a complete logistics chain – logging and transportation for export to Europe and Asia. 
Company’s main advantage is the ability to react to market changes quickly. Moreover, due to the complete logistics chain and reliable international partners, they can provide their clients with an additional amount of cargo, if necessary. They won’t let any issue go unresolved as we manage our client expectations 24/7. 
We provide transport and loading in ports. Currently, SIA ‘’Meža Enerģija’’ has two terminals in Freeport of Riga, allowing them to serve Panamax cargo ships – a terminal in Jaunmilgravis port company and Skultes port. 
They also provide rail freight and land transport services. 
 
 

Transport and logistics

SIA ‘’Meža Enerģija’’ are more than happy to provide their clients with effective and reliable supply chain solutions by both land and sea. 
They offer local knowledge, worldwide coverage and profound experience in all logistical areas. Their strong relationships with their carriers allow them to meet the customers’ demands to their complete satisfaction. 
The company works individually with every client, so they are able to create a strong cost and time-effective supply chain, tailor-made for every specific operation. 
More information about company can be found on www.mezaenergija.lv/en 
 

EU renewable energy directive

Accordingly, to the Europeans Union goal for renewable energy directive (2009/28/EC) - EU establishes an overall policy for the production and promotion of energy from renewable sources in the EU countries. It requires the EU to fulfil at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020 – to be achieved through the attainment of individual national targets. All EU countries must also ensure that at least 10% of their transport fuels come from renewable sources by 2020. 
In December 2018, the revised renewable energy directive 2018/2001/EU entered into force, as part of the Clean energy for all Europeans package, aimed at keeping the EU a global leader in renewables and, more broadly, helping the EU to meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. 
More information can be found on https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-directive 
 

Latvian forest industry

 
Sustainability 

Forests in Latvia take up 3.383 million hectares of land, or 52% of the country’s territory. The amount of forestland, moreover, is constantly expanding, both naturally and thanks to afforestation of infertile land and other land that is not used for agriculture. More important, however, is another indicator – the volume of timber in the forest is increasing three times more than the area of forestland. This proves that the forest area in Latvia is not expanding because of bushes that are not counted as part of the area of forest. On the contrary, forestry work in Latvia has been very targeted. An average of approximately 11 million m3 of timber have been harvested each year in Latvia’s forests during the past decade. That is less than the annual increment, and so forestry in Latvia can be described as sustainable.

Wood processing

The forest sector is one of the cornerstones of the national economy at this time. Forestry, wood processing and furniture manufacturing represented 4,8% of GDP in 2017, while exports amounted to EUR 2,2 billion – 20% of all exports. There is no parish in Latvia with no larger or smaller wood processing company. Often these are the most important employers in the surrounding area, thus being the main pillar of support for local economies and residents. 
 

Biological diversity

In historical terms, the intensive use of Latvia’s forests for economic purposes began comparatively later than in many other European countries, and that has allowed us to preserve extensive biological diversity. Limitations on economic activity apply to 28,2% of Latvia’s forests at this time, and most of this territory is owned by the state. 683 especially protected environmental territories have been set aside to protect nature. Many are included in the unified and pan-European NATURA 2000 network of protected territories.  

 

The forest and society

The Latvian state owns around one-half of the country’s forests, while most of the rest of the forest belongs to approximately 135,000 private owners. Nearly everywhere, people are free to hike through the forest and to pick mushrooms or berries. The number of places for recreation is increasing every year in Latvia’s forests, and the territories in which recreation is one of the main goals of forest management represent 8% of all forestland in Latvia. 

The forest sector in Latvia is under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. It works with stakeholders to draft forest policies, development strategies for the sector, as well as regulations on forest management, the use of forest resources, environment protection and hunting. 
www.zm.gov.lv 
The State Forest Service, under the Ministry of Agriculture, is the responsible agency for supervising how the provisions of the laws and regulations are observed in forest management irrespective of the ownership type. 
www.vmd.gov.lv 
State-owned forests are managed by Stock Company “Latvian State Forests”, which was established in 1999. It implements the state’s interests in terms of preserving and increasing the value of the forest and enhancing the contributions of the forest to the national economy. 
www.lvm.lv 
Territories in which recreation is one of the main areas of forest management took up 8% of forestland (293,000 hectares) in 2018 Viewing platforms, educational trails, cultural and historical destinations, areas for picnics – those are just a few of the leisure infrastructure objects that are found in Latvia’s forests. They are open to one and all at no cost at all. Special attention to improving such areas has been paid to state-owned forests. 
The areas of recreation-based forestland include national parks (except reserves), nature parks, protected landscape areas, protected dendrology plants, protected geological and geomorphologic monuments, nature parks of local importance, the protected zone of dunes along the shores of the Baltic Sea, protected zones around cities, and forests in the administrative territories of cities. 
Specially protected natural areas are supervised and managed by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.

Data source:  Publisher NGO "Zaļās mājas" e-book "LATVIAN FOREST SECTOR IN FACTS & FIGURES"