What significant investment projects were implemented by forestry enterprises in 2025?
Despite the challenging situation in the forestry industry, 2025 was a period when many forestry enterprises managed not only to maintain investment activity but also to complete major projects. These launches span several key regions of the country, from Central Russia to the Far East.
• The Kaluga Region became one of the main growth areas of the wood panel industry in 2025. In April, the Ultradecor Group of Companies commissioned a large-scale chipboard production facility with a capacity of 900,000 m3 per year, as well as four lamination lines with a total output of 72 million m2 per year. Investment in the project amounted to 22 billion rubles. In December, the cluster's development continued with the launch of a binders plant with a capacity of 216,000 tons per year and the opening of a Design Center for the development of unique decors. The fifth and final phase of the project in the Kaluga SEZ required an investment of 6.87 billion rubles.
• The Leningrad Region marked the launch of a new production facility for the Slotex Group of Companies in Vsevolozhsk. The company specializes in the production of decorative laminated paper for coating wood-based panels, with a design capacity of 2 million m2 per year. The company secured a 900 million ruble soft loan to purchase the equipment.
• The Republic of Adygea became the site of one of the largest projects in the packaging segment. In May, SFT Group launched a new production facility at the Kartontara LLC plant. A new automated corrugated packaging line with a capacity of up to 150 million cubic meters per year was built in Maykop. The Kartontara-2 project, completed over two years, cost the investor 2.8 billion rubles and doubled production volumes. In the Republic of Karelia, one of the lines at the Tomitsy-2 woodworking plant, owned by Krona LLC, was commissioned in early summer. It produces furniture panels, turned products, and wooden stair components. In December, construction of the second part of the complex, focused on recycling waste into wood-polymer composite and producing decking boards, was completed. Also in October, the Kalevala woodworking plant, reconstructed after a fire in 2023, resumed operations after a year and a half of inactivity. The company managed to select and manufacture new equipment under sanctions, and the plant is now gradually returning to its previous production volumes.
• The Khabarovsk Krai has become the launch site for a high-tech plywood production facility. In October, RFP Group commissioned a larch structural plywood plant with a capacity of up to 120,000 m3 per year. Investments exceeded 4.7 billion rubles, with over 80% of the process equipment being Russian-made, allowing the project to be implemented despite external restrictions.
• The Komi Republic concluded the year with the launch of a new plywood line at the Luzales plant in Vylgort. The line's production capacity is 54,700 m3 of plywood per year. The equipment was supplied by the Chinese company Weihai Hanvy Plywood Machinery, and the project itself was implemented as part of a priority modernization and capacity expansion program. The total investment exceeds 4 billion rubles.
