Ukraine could replace Russia, Belarus on world timber market - deputy chief of Zelensky’s Office

Russia and Belarus timber suppliers are being pushed out of world markets. Ukraine has a chance to take their place, which will create an industry with a turnover of up to $10 billion and tens of thousands of jobs.

This was emphasized by the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, Rostyslav Shurma, who spoke at the meeting of the working group on reforming the forest industry, Ukrinform reports.

"We seek to create a large, efficient industry of wood products. It is about a multiple increase in the production of furniture components, MDF, parquet, timber, construction material, cellulose, paper, as well as the creation of the bioenergy materials industry," he said, clarifying that a cube of raw timber costs nearly $50-100, while finished products start from $700 and reach $3,000.

Shurma emphasized that roughly 13 million cubic meters of timber are logged in Ukraine annually. This volume can be increased to 25 million cubic meters, in particular following the example of Scandinavia, which stipulates that every hectare of forest cut down must be immediately replanted.

"Another goal is to establish order in the forest industry, namely mechanization of logging, the transition from manual to mechanized logging, control over volumes, increasing productivity, reducing cost, and avoiding re-sorting. To this end, Forests of Ukraine will implement a program of modernization and purchase of new equipment," added deputy head of the President’s Office.

As reported, in September 2022, a single state-run specialized forestry enterprise Forests of Ukraine was founded in Ukraine as a legal successor of property, rights, and obligations of specialized state-owned forestry firms.

A total of 145 branches of State Forests of Ukraine have already been established based on the state-run forest farms. Branches are entrusted with the functions to ensure protection, rational use and reproduction of forests, as well as commercial activities. Also, at the branch level, the task of selling timber remains in place.

State-owned enterprise Forests of Ukraine has already started its work on the project of a new system for monitoring and controlling circulation of timber.