Romanian Ministry of Environment to check Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s local operations

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Romania's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change today has started a control at Austrian group Holzindustrie Schweighofer's sawmills in Sebes and Radauti, following recent media scandal.

“We can confirm that earlier this morning our control teams went on inspection at Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s Romanian headquarters. We took this initiative after local and international press reports about the company’s activity. The control results will be announced in the following period,” said sources from the Ministry of Environment quoted by Romanian media agency Agerpres.

Schweighofer is the largest wood processing company in Romania and in the past weeks has been accused by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to willingly and knowingly accepting illegally harvested wood and incentivizing additional cutting through a bonus system. Undercover EIA investigators posed as foreign investors who had acquired the rights to cut a specified amount of timber on land owned by communities in Romania. They told Schweighofer officials that they intended to cut more than was permitted under contract and they needed assurances that the company would accept the wood. On all occasions, Schweighofer officials confirmed they would buy the wood and further offered a bonus for any additional wood delivered, according to EIA.

Thousands of Romanians are expected this Saturday for a march against illegal forest cutting in Romania. 

Gerald Schweighofer, the owner of Holzindustrie Schweighofer, issued a press statement denying all allegations. ''Statements of a company employee presented in a recent video material published by EIA have been massively shortened according to the involved employees, presented in a false context and is therefore misleading and providing wrongful information,'' Schweighofer added. 

However, the company said it would re-check of all internal processes and suppliers.

The Austrian group has been lobbying in the past months against the new Forestry Code, which would limit its operations in Romania. The Parliament passed the new law on wood exploitation at the end of February, but Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis sent it back for reexamination at the end of March.

Holzindustrie Schweighofer has invested some EUR 778 million in Romania starting 2002 and currently has some 2,500 employees in the country. The group had a turnover of EUR 510 million in Romania in 2013. It estimated EUR 700 million in revenues for 2015.

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Catalin Dragostin
Ministerul Mediului, mai bine ar incepe mai intii cu verificarea Acordului de Mediu acordat investitiei de la Reci !...sa retraga acel aviz pe un studiiu de impact facut prost si cu concluzii dubioase si abia apoi sa inceapa cu orice alte controale...oricum, nu Min.Mediului, in primul rind, trebuie sa inceapa cu controale...