The State Duma discussed the issue of improving legislation on timber exchange trading

On September 30, the Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection held a working meeting dedicated to improving the legislation on exchange trading of timber. The Russian Timber Association was represented by its First Vice President Andrey Goncharov.

During the meeting, key aspects related to amendments to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation were discussed. Particular attention was paid to clarifying the wording related to exchange trading.

The experiment in exchange trading of timber, initiated by order of the President of Russia in 2014, demonstrated an impressive increase in volumes. Since January 1, 2022, the obligation to sell timber only at organized exchange trading has been introduced for subordinate institutions - forestry enterprises. Later, a similar obligation was extended to the FSIN institutions.

Andrey Goncharov, First Vice President of the Russian Timber Association: “We fully support measures aimed at eliminating loopholes that allow unfair timber transactions. However, at this stage, it is important to refrain from introducing new restrictions for business, since there are higher-priority tasks that require a systematic approach.”.

Earlier, the Russian Timber Association, together with OPORA RUSSIA, had already made proposals for the sale of timber obtained as a result of forest use, in accordance with Articles 43–46 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation. The proposal was to conduct such trades on the exchange. Currently, this activity is being carried out by Rosimushchestvo, and, as is known, the results are not always effective.

Following the meeting, the text of the draft law will be finalized within a month, which will then be sent to the Russian Government for feedback.