The Ministry of Agriculture recognises Latvijas Finieris for Promoting Fair Competition

On 3 December 2025, the annual Golden Cone Forest Awards were presented at a ceremony. Alongside the traditional award categories, this year, sector representatives were honoured with special recognition from the Ministry of Agriculture for their personal and dedicated contribution to promoting fair competition. Together with experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Revenue Service Customs Administration, and the State Forest Service, letters of recognition were also awarded to Latvijas Finieris employees – Member of the Executive Board Mārtiņš Lācis, Riga Wood Baltic Executive Director Uģis Ozols, and Management Accounting and Bookkeeping Department Head Gunita Znotiņa – for their active cooperation with EU and national institutions in identifying and neutralising new channels for the illegal import of wood products from aggressor countries, in particular, birch plywood.

Mārtiņš Lācis, Member of the Executive Board of Latvijas Finieris:

“We have actively cooperated with international and national institutions for several years to promote market transparency and curb the circulation of illegal products. In cooperation with the European Commission, the European Panel Federation and the Latvian authorities, we regularly analyse market data and information on the origin of the wood.
Thanks to our joint and results-oriented activities, significant progress was made in 2024, with imports of illegal plywood in Latvia falling by a factor of 30 compared to the previous year.
It is important to note the solidarity and good practice demonstrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Revenue Service National Customs Board, the State Forest Service, and other public sector institutions. However, the problem persists in other EU countries where such timber products are imported and further shipped to other EU Member States.”

The annual award, Golden Pine Cone, is a joint initiative of the Latvian Forest Owners’ Association, the Latvian Forest Industry Federation, and the Ministry of Agriculture. It is the forest industry’s highest annual recognition for significant achievements and contributions to the industry. The award was established to recognise and thank Latvia’s best forest workers for their achievements, as well as to introduce Latvia’s best foresters, woodworkers, scientists, and educators to the public. This year, the Golden Cone Awards were presented for the 22nd time.

The forest industry is important for Latvia’s national economy. The economic basis of forestry in Latvia is timber production, which provides economic stability through jobs and tax contributions, and contributes significantly to the country’s gross domestic product, exports, and the extraction of renewable resources. In 2024, the value added (in real prices) generated by Latvia’s forest sector accounted for 4% of the country’s gross domestic product. The forest industry employs 40 000 people, of whom 16 000 work in forestry and logging, 21 000 in wood processing, and 5000 in furniture production. In 2024, forestry exports totalled € 3.4 billion, representing 18.3% of the country’s overall exports.

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