Wood chips will fly: timber producers are offered to allow logging in excess of legal limits

Timber producers are being offered permission to cut wood beyond the legal limits. We are talking about the volumes that companies have underperformed over the past three years. Such a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers was prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Izvestia learned. Industry sources explain that after the sanctions were imposed, the volume of lumber, paper and cardboard production in the Russian Federation fell by 20-30%, and manufacturers need to be supported. How this measure can affect the environment is described in the Izvestia article.

What support measures are being prepared for foresters

Companies of the timber industry will be able to extract wood in excess of the permitted limits in the amount that they have under-produced over the past three years. Such a draft government decree has been prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Izvestia has reviewed the document. The measure will be valid until January 1, 2027, according to the document. According to Izvestia's source in government agencies, the draft government decree may be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in the coming months.

— Today, the rules for harvesting timber have established a restriction that stipulates that the total volume of its harvesting in forestry is calculated as the sum of the volume of harvesting under contracts for the year, that is, it is impossible to exceed those that were calculated for the current year. The essence of the resolution is not to restrict business, to give the opportunity to significantly increase production and compensate for the decline in production that occurred at Russian enterprises after the imposition of sanctions in 2022. At the same time, it will be impossible to exceed the estimated cutting area of the entire forestry, that is, the long—term rate of reforestation," explained Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition.

Industry sources told Izvestia that after the introduction of restrictive measures in some regions of the Russian Federation, the production of lumber, paper, cardboard, and so on fell by 20-30%. Enterprises have difficulties with equipment, and sales channels for such goods abroad have been closed. But today, the domestic market has partially freed itself from foreign products, new export channels have appeared, and enterprises are once again reaching pre-crisis levels, the interlocutors say.

Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Federal Forestry Agency, regions with a developed forestry industry, as well as business representatives.

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Development of the timber industry

Over the past two years, issues related to the development of the Russian timber industry have been discussed more than once at various venues. One of the most important in this regard was the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Arkhangelsk Region in February 2023. At that time, a meeting was held where the acute problems of the activities of enterprises in the industry of the complex and the pulp and paper industry in the changed economic conditions were discussed. The result was a number of assignments, some of which have already found practical implementation.

— The timber industry has indeed faced a number of problems after the sanctions were imposed: it became difficult to sell products to premium European markets and modernize equipment at enterprises. However, despite this, the industry has moved to recovery: production indicators are gradually returning to the level of 2021," said Igor Muraev, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Arkhangelsk Region.

According to him, this became possible thanks to systematic support at the presidential level, the industry has already received subsidization of transportation costs for the transportation of products by rail and the ports of the Northwestern Federal District, prioritization of transportation of timber goods by rail.

— Easing the requirements for logging is an additional step towards improving the efficiency of the farm, — added Igor Muraev.

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Will the measures have an impact on the environment

According to the press service of the Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz), 194.3 million cubic meters of forest were harvested in the country in 2024. The figure increased by 3.4% year-on-year. In 2025, the agency aims to maintain this positive trend and reach the 200 million cubic meter mark, while ensuring that tenants implement a set of measures to protect, protect and reproduce forests, said Ivan Advisers, head of the agency.

— Easing bureaucratic barriers to improve the efficiency of logging seems to be a logical and relevant measure. At the same time, it is important that the economic interest does not violate the interests of environmental protection. That is why we are talking about a moderate and balanced approach: on the one hand, loggers will be able to increase wood production, on the other hand, the calculation of limits over the past few years will be taken into account, forest extraction will not become uncontrolled, and the necessary level of restoration can be ensured in forestry," said the director of the Unified Scientific Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federal State Budgetary Institution VNII Ecology." Alexander Zakondyrin.

At the same time, according to him, despite the trend of recovery of the Russian timber industry, there are still some areas of production that require additional and clearly targeted support. One of these areas is the production of fuel pellets (pellets used for heating residential buildings by burning in stoves and fireplaces). Today, some industries use only up to 10% of their existing capacities, since the supply of such products was mainly focused on European countries.

One of the state policy measures to support the domestic timber industry could be the phased replacement of obsolete fuel oil boilers with pellet boilers in some regions. This could ensure an increase in demand in the domestic market for wood products, and would also have a positive environmental effect.