Holzindustrie owner wants to buy forests

Austrian businessman Gerald Schweighofer, who has invested more than 60 million euros in Romania so far in a wood processing plant in Sebes, Alba county, is interested in buying forests in Romania. Schweighofer says however that he is having difficulties because of the high fragmentation of wooded properties. “We want to buy larger areas, of more than 50 hectares of resinous woods, but this is very difficult since the largest properties have only 4-5 hectares, which entails the need to conclude quite a large number of transactions until we reach our target. We also own forests in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, but owners in the respective countries hold areas of more than 100 hectares,” said Gerald Schweighofer. A hectare of forest is currently sold at a price of 4,000 euros, but it can easily reach 100,000 euros in the case of forests of old oaks. Schweighofer also owns a separate real estate company called Cascade Empire, which has already acquired wooded areas in Romania. ZF