Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev held a working meeting with timber industry workers from Primorsky Krai in Vladivostok.
“We will discuss the use of forest resources. Unfortunately, forests in the Russian Federation are used to a much lesser extent than in other forest countries. In addition, there is a certain downward trend. In the first quarter of this year, timber harvesting in Primorsky Krai decreased by 11%, and exports decreased even more. Accordingly, tax revenues from industry enterprises to the regional budget amounted to 3%. There were a number of speeches on the topic of, say, more effective regulation of the industry. So far, there have been no major changes here. We need to ensure that forests in Russia, like all other resources, are used as efficiently as possible,” Yuri Trutnev opened the meeting.
The issues discussed included the implementation of forest management activities in the Primorsky Krai, the work of the Federal State Information System of the Forestry Complex, and support by forestry enterprises of the Primorsky Krai for the special military operation.
According to Primorsky Krai Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, since the beginning of the SVO, forestry companies operating in the region have transferred more than 16 thousand cubic meters of timber, more than 50 units of equipment, supplied equipment, weapons, medicines and provided other assistance to military units. During the period of partial mobilization, they equipped and provided military training grounds and tent cities with the necessary materials entirely at their own expense.
“We have always provided and continue to provide large-scale, free assistance to the families of military personnel – tens of thousands of cubic meters of firewood, money. Their fellow countrymen who serve on the front lines contact their leaders directly. And they never get a refusal – on any issues. Now our enterprises have organized a rhythmic and regular free supply of lumber to the troops, to the SVO zone. Despite the sanctions, the decline in revenue and the difficult economy, assistance to the army is being scaled up,” said Oleg Kozhemyako.
The meeting discussed the work of the Primorsky branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Roslesinforg”. The previous management of the branch concluded 19 contracts with forest lessees of Primorsky Krai on forest management (forest taxation) on an area of 330 thousand hectares, for which obligations were overdue. The work was not completed, the funds were spent, and an irreparable cash gap was actually formed. The work was either not started, or it needs to be completely redone.
In addition to unfulfilled obligations to businesses, the Primorsky branch of Roslesinforg has had debts to the region since 2020 under a contract for the establishment of rural forests on an area of 50 thousand hectares. These works were ordered at the expense of their own budget. The forest management work carried out under the 2023 state assignment in the Ussuri forestry on an area of 127 thousand hectares requires a complete review and large-scale adjustment.
Currently, the Primorsky branch is fulfilling overdue obligations through current business and financial activities with an acute shortage of tax engineers and funds allocated for the fulfillment of the state assignment: the branch is forced to spend a significant portion of the funds received from new customers to fulfill overdue obligations and fulfill the state assignment for 2024 and 2025.
The new head of the branch takes a set of measures aimed at independently resolving the current situation (an agreement is reached with the tenants of forest areas on extending the terms of execution of contracts, new employees are actively hired, including those with remote employment from other regions, new contracts are concluded, etc.). But the measures taken are clearly insufficient due to the scale of the problem; intervention by the federal center is required to correct the current situation with forest management in the Primorsky Territory, as well as a deep analysis of this area as a whole, including an assessment of the effectiveness of the decisions taken on federalization and monopolization of these powers.
Yuri Trutnev instructed the Ministry of Natural Resources to develop and submit proposals for remote forestry accounting.
“A number of unqualified management actions have led to people not being able to obtain forest plots and even information, or build a timber processing plant. We have promoted a clear way to solve this problem – forest management based on space images and aerial photographs. We can keep records of forests based on remote methods. The Ministry of Natural Resources supports this solution. We discussed this together with the minister. Therefore, we need to switch to remote methods as quickly as possible and restore order in the forest,” said Yuri Trutnev.
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