Belarus Circumventing EU Sanctions by Exporting Timber Though Poland Using False Documentation

Belarus is circumventing EU sanctions by exporting timber into the bloc through Poland using false documentation suggesting it is from Kazakhstan—a country with hardly any forests—according to an international journalistic investigation published by Notes from Poland (3-27-24).

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, imports to the EU of timber supposedly from Kazakhstan have increased 325-fold in value, from approximately €387,000 in 2021 to nearly €126 million in 2023. Imports to Poland, at almost €68 million, accounted for more than half of that latter figure.

An investigation conducted by Radio Free Europe, the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, and the Belarussian Investigative Center has found that at least part of these imports from Kazakhstan are actually Belarussian timber that has been falsely documented to evade EU sanctions in place since 2022.

The Polish Economic Chamber of the Timber Industry has also noticed a significant increase in timber imports from Kazakhstan over the past two years, despite the country—only 1.7% of which is forested, compared to 46% of Belarus—not having a history of production.

According to Notes from Poland, the chamber’s director, Piotr Garstka, told Gazeta Wyborcza that Kazakhstan had never previously produced plywood but within two years became the main supplier of the material. Garstka added that the organization’s members had noted tenders being awarded for the supply of lumber in which prices were “abnormally low, even below the cost of the raw material.”

They have asked Poland’s state assets ministry to “take appropriate remedial measures.” “The circumvention of sanctions is ongoing, and their enforcement is not 100% effective,” said Garstka.