Russian President Putin Instructs Government to Stop the Uncontrolled Export of Unprocessed Timber

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (9/30) instructed the government to stop the uncontrolled export of untreated timber following a meeting on the development and decriminalization of the timber industry. Mr. Putin went on to ask the government “to prepare a legislative and regulatory framework for solving the following tasks: it is necessary, finally, to put a rigid barrier against uncontrolled export of unprocessed timber.” Mr. Putin went onto say, instead of timber processing, Russia is exporting raw materials, “smuggling them out. There are obvious imbalances in the development of the Russian forestry complex. The leading processing enterprises of the industry are located far from the main centers of product consumption, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region, where a favorable pricing environment is observed, a growing demand, including for ecological fuel, for fuel pellets.” If approved, there will be a complete ban of shipments of round timbers of coniferous species out of Russian effective January 1st, 2022.