WEDEL JARSLBERG: 60 square kilometers of private land for sale Sore Fagerfjord Photo credit: CC/Gary Bembridge
The only remaining private land in Norway's Spitsbergen archipelago is up for sale with a price tag of €300 million.
The Sore Fagerfjord land near Wedel Jarslberg, which was described by global real estate agency Knight Frank as being of “environmental, scientific and economic importance”, covers an area of about 60 square kilometers and is 10 times larger than Gibraltar.
“This is a unique opportunity to acquire land on one of the world-famous Svalbard Islands,” Will Matthews of Knight Frank told Euronews.
Spitsbergen is strategically important because the islands are located halfway between Norway's northern coast and the North Pole and have been described as the gateway to the Arctic. All other properties in the region are controlled by Norway or Russia.
The lawyer representing the company that owns the land said it would “sell to the highest bidder,” according to Bloomberg, which first reported the sale.
“We are currently speaking to a collection of ultra-high net worth individuals from around the world who are all passionate about conservation and philanthropy,” Will Matthews told Euronews.
The Bloomberg article also recalled the 2014 controversy when another private property in the region, known to have rich coal deposits, received a bid from China. The sale was ultimately prevented when the Norwegian government intervened and purchased the land.
The prospective buyer will have to come from one of the countries that signed the Spitsbergen Treaty, which was originally ratified in 1920. There are now 46 signatories, including Russia and China.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Don't forget to come back and check The Euro Weekly news website for all your breaking local and international news stories and don't forget you can follow us too Facebook And Instagram.