Additional support measures for forest industry enterprises have been approved

The Russian government has approved new support measures for forestry enterprises. The amendments were made to the Specifics of Permitting Activities (Government Resolution No. 1522 of October 2, 2025) and developed at the direction of the President of the Russian Federation.

These decisions are aimed at ensuring stability for logging companies and adapting the industry to current economic conditions. Deadlines for a number of administrative and business obligations have been extended. For forest declarations submitted before May 1, 2025, the storage and removal period for already harvested timber has been extended until May 1 of the following year. This will allow enterprises to evenly distribute logistical and production workloads.

Furthermore, the deadlines for forest conservation measures, including protection, conservation, regeneration, afforestation, and forest seed production (excluding fire prevention work), have been extended until July 1, 2026. The measure applies to obligations whose fulfillment period expired between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025, and for which a penalty is provided for failure to fulfill them.

Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Head of the Federal Forestry Agency: "The measures taken are aimed at supporting forest users as they adapt to new economic realities. On the one hand, this ensures the stability of enterprises' operations, while on the other, maintaining environmental responsibility. The extension of the deadline will allow forestry enterprises to optimize production processes and fulfill their forest conservation obligations without resorting to sanctions.

Furthermore, it was reported that until January 1, 2027, forest leaseholders will also be given the opportunity to harvest previously underutilized timber within the estimated cutting area not only of the current year but also of the previous three years (Part 11 of Article 29 of the Forest Code, Order No. 993 of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia dated December 1, 2020).