Rosleskhoz's report to the Federation Council
During "Government Hour" in the Federation Council, Ivan Sovetnikov, head of the Federal Forestry Agency, presented a report on the development of forestry in Russia. He presented the industry's current performance and outlined key objectives for the coming years.
Forest Fire Protection
According to the decree of the President of Russia, the strategic goal remains to halve the area affected by forest fires by 2030. To achieve this, in 2026, funding for forest fire protection has been increased 4.2-fold to 25.5 billion rubles. As part of the federal project "Forest Conservation," more than 51,000 units of forest firefighting equipment have been purchased, and control zones have been reduced by 210 million hectares. Starting in 2024, the Federal Avialesookhrana reserve can be deployed to regions without declaring a state of emergency.
Forest Restoration
Over the past five years, reforestation has been carried out on an area of 6.9 million hectares—1.7 million hectares more than the area of dead and felled forests. Starting in 2025, as part of the updated "Forest Conservation" project, new forest seed production facilities will be created, nurseries will be modernized, and the maintenance of young forests will be increased.
Forest Management
Forest management work is concentrated in zones of intensive forest use, which are determined by regional leaders. Following the completion of these measures, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation commit to integrating forest areas into economic circulation.
Decriminalization of the Industry
By order of the President of Russia and taking into account the recommendations of the Federation Council, a comprehensive plan to decriminalize the industry was approved. A key measure was the ban on the export of round timber, which allowed for the redistribution of investment in favor of domestic production and the stabilization of the raw materials market.
While illegal logging was recorded at 1.1 million m3 in 2020, today the volume has decreased almost fourfold, and the phenomenon of unauthorized industrial logging has virtually disappeared.
Digital Transformation
A unified digital framework is being consistently established in the industry. An electronic accompanying document for timber transportation has been in effect since 2022. 32.6 million ESDs have already been compiled, with a total volume of over 1.3 billion m3.
Since 2025, the state forest register has been maintained electronically through the Federal State Information System (FGIS LK), and all forestry government services are provided exclusively online. The system contains data on more than 335,000 timber warehouses and 36,000 production facilities. All timber trucks are equipped with GLONASS sensors.
Human Resources
About 70,000 specialists work in forestry, with the industry's annual demand for approximately 9,000 people. To support these personnel, social payments for housing construction are being implemented under the "Rural Development" program, as well as a law enabling forestry dynasties to work.
Since 2025, by order of the President of Russia, salaries for forestry workers have been increased. 24 billion rubles have been allocated for these purposes. for the period from 2025 to 2030. The average monthly salary in the industry reached 62,900 rubles—a two-fold increase compared to 2020.
The Federation Council emphasized the importance of further improving the Federal State Information System for the Forest Complex, developing reforestation, and training personnel. Senators noted that the systematic collaboration between government agencies, regions, and businesses has already significantly improved the efficiency of the forestry industry and will continue to be key to its sustainable development.
