Romanian public forests manager Romsilva secures 4,600 hectares of forests after 20-year litigation

Romsilva, the Romanian state-owned enterprise responsible for managing the majority of the country's public forests, announced on Thursday, May 21, that it won 4,641.1 hectares of forest in western Romania after a 20-year litigation.

The forest, located in the locality of Nadas, Arad County, was definitively returned to state ownership after more than 100 court hearings before ten courts throughout the country, from the Ineu Court to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

The litigation began after claims were forwarded that agricultural and forest lands totaling 8,747 hectares had belonged to the late Grosz Helena. The claimants relied on a false inheritance certificate, according to state representatives.

“The Arad County Commission for Establishing Property Rights legally rejected the reconstitution request, finding that the lands in Nadas village owned by the Grosz family had previously been transferred to the joint-stock company ‘Forestieră Nadăș.’ Therefore, according to Law no. 18/1991, they could not be subject to retrocession, which concerned exclusively lands abusively taken after 1945 by CAPs and IASs,” Romsilva stated in a press release.

After rejecting the ownership claim, the courts also admitted the civil side of the case, restoring the forest to the Romanian state. The Colteu family, together with the Private Forestry District Nadăș, was also obligated to pay Romsilva RON 1.19 million in damage caused through timber exploitation and other activities carried out in the forest.

“Romsilva welcomes this definitive solution, which confirms compliance with legality and the protection of the forest heritage of the Romanian state, reaffirming Romsilva’s commitment to defending the national forest fund and the sustainable management of forests,” the institution added.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)