Sergei Ivanov, said that Russia has failed to increase its timber production levels in recent years, despite having the capacity to increase its output by more than 300%.
“The aggregate volume of timber production has not been increasing in the past few years, remaining at 160-180 million m3 a year,” said Mr Ivanov.
“Given competent and rational management, we could produce and process some 600 million m3 a year, without any damage to the environment.”
In addition, Mr Ivanov stated that around 8,000km of roads need to be built over the next six years in order to ensure that all of Russia’s forests are accessible, with official figures suggesting that more than two-thirds of the country’s resources are currently inaccessible.
“Urgent measures are needed to boost the domestic capacities in advanced woodworking and the production of value-added products,” he concluded.
