The profile committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation supported the proposals of the association "Russian Forest" on measures to support the timber industry

On October 25, 2022, the State Duma hosted a meeting of the Expert Council under the Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection with the participation of deputies, senators, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Finance, Rosleskhoz and business. The Russian Forest Association was represented at the meeting by its first vice-president Andrey Goncharov.

The meeting participants discussed proposals to support the timber industry, the key ones were approved for further implementation.

Repeal of the ban on leasing forest plots for timber harvesting if the forest inventory was carried out more than ten years ago. The Ministry of Natural Resources, together with the Federal Forestry Agency, prepared a corresponding draft law, but so far it has remained for examination by the Government of the Russian Federation. The participants of the meeting supported the need to make such a decision - this will be facilitated by the relevant committee of the State Duma.
Introduction of deferred payment of rent for the use of forests. The Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Udmurt Republic have a practice of introducing a deferral in the part exceeding the minimum rent. The Russian Forest Association proposes to recommend to all constituent entities of the Russian Federation to create working groups that forest users who find themselves in a difficult economic situation can apply to, and to consider the introduction of similar delays. The deputies unanimously supported the need for such recommendations.
Adoption of the law on forest roads. Instructions to stimulate the construction of forest roads were given by the President of the Russian Federation at a meeting of the State Council in Ulan-Ude back in 2013, and also later, in 2020, as part of supporting the industry.

“The issues of today's meeting are extremely relevant in the current macroeconomic conditions, when the industry needs state support. I will especially note the progress in the discussion of the draft law on forest roads. To date, this is one of the most anticipated laws by timber merchants, because for the past 30 years, new timber roads have practically not been built, and the need for them has increased due to global warming and the reduction of the winter period. The insufficiency of the forest road network is one of the reasons why the potential of the forest industry has not been fully realized: the allowable cut in Russia is about 730 million m³, but it is being developed by an average of 30%,” — Andrey Goncharov noted.