The Ministry for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation published a report “On the results of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation in 2005 and objectives of the Russian Federation economic policy for 2006”. A small part of this report is dedicated to forestry (the entire text is available on the Ministry’s website www.economy.gov.ru).

However, this report does not contain lots of breaking news. It informs about the dilapidated forestry equipment, about a drastic decline in the extent of forest procurement according to the data of Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service), about a decrease in the extent of logging, about imperfect production methods, fewer exports of timber products from Russia, etc.

The article states that the average income is at the lowest level in agriculture, hunting, and forestry compared to other branches of Russian economy (the average income is 3576 roubles per month, 43 percent of the all-Russian level). Unfortunately, this report does not distinguish between agriculture, hunting, and forestry.

Concerning forestry, one point of the article is highly interesting: it shows that the Ministry of Economic Development does not envisage developing the Russian forest industry through civilized developing forestry in areas with already existing forest settlements, roads and operating companies – but through exploiting wood in intact Taiga regions. This is the very way which has led the Russian forest branch almost into deadlock.

The ministry chose a very characteristic way for conducting basic reforms in the forest branch, resembling its manner of elaborating the new forest law. In many respects this short paragraph explains, why the Forest Code project of the Ministry of Economic Development does not lead to the development of forestry.

This is the above-mentioned paragraph of the new report of the Ministry of Economic Development: “Additionally, the exhaustion of forest resources in areas with a developed infrastructure causes the necessity to shift logging activities to more difficult natural production conditions (in new forest redundant areas with overripe plantations).”

27/02/2006