Forests on agricultural land remain outside of practicing forestry

According to expert estimates, Russia has 70 million hectares of forests growing in former fields, i.e. agricultural land (“agricultural forest”) that is not managed or used. On several occasions, it has been suggested that practicing forestry should be made possible in these areas. For example, the common statement of Russian WWF and Greenpeace at the end of 2018 calls for legislative changes to allow private forestry (“lesnoe fermerstvo”) and forest …

Sveza Group starts own wood harvesting in Vologda region

Sveza Group has established a wood procurement company Sveza Resource LLC in the Vologda region. The initial capital is RUB 400 million (approximately EUR 5.7 million *). Wood procurement will start at the end of 2019, with investment of 270 million rubles (about EUR 3.9 million *) this year and a total of 1.5 billion rubles (about EUR 21 million *) by 2028. Another project related to the Sveza Group’s …

Lower limit of prosecution for illegal wood export

Timber is classified as a strategically important resource and its illegal export is subject to prosecution under Russian Criminal Code. Previously, the prosecution could have been brought if the value of illegally exported timber exceeded one million rubles (about € 13,700 *). Now the indictment limit has been lowered to 100,000 rubles (€ 1370 *). Firewood, roundwood, poles, sawnwood and sheet of veneer are classified as timber (4401, 4403, 4404, …

200 nurseries produce forest tree seedlings in Northwest Russia

There are currently 202 nurseries in Northwest Russia that produce forest tree seedlings. 111 million seedlings were produced for the 2019 forest regeneration, of which 26 million were container seedlings. It is estimated that forest regeneration will require 106 million seedlings this year in Northwest Russia. In some regions there is a shortage of seedlings, but the material is supplemented within the framework of the zones that regulate the origin …

Wood import to Finland May 2019

In May Finland’s wood imports totalled 1.01 million cubic metres. Of imported wood 60 per cent was pulpwood, 32 per cent chips and four per cent logs. The share of fuelwood, preserved wood and wood residues was in total four per cent. In January-May wood imports totalled 4.61 million cubic metres which increased by 18 per cent compared to the same period previous year. Russia’s share of wood imports in …

Segezha Group launched investment project in Karelia

The Segezha pulp and paper mill modernization project was officially launched in July. The Segezha West project involves increasing the mill’s production capacity to 850,000 tonnes per year and expanding its product range. In addition to sack paper, bleached paper and bleached hardwood and softwood pulp will also be manufactured in the future. The investment amounts to 55 billion rubles (about € 750 million*). In June, the Segezha Group and the …

Monitoring system LesEGAIS for timber trade in Russia

Publication: Natural resources and bioeconomy studies 31/2019, 19 p., Sari Karvinen http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-326-757-2  Abstract Illegal logging is a recognized problem in the Russian forest sector. Experts have estimated that the volume of illegal logging amounts to 10–35 per cent of total logging volume, while official reports claim that the share is less than a per cent. In 2013, the Russian Forest Act was amended and an electronic timber trade monitoring system, “Yedinaya …

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