Report on performance of Belarus’ forestry industry

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko heard out a report on the performance of the country’s forestry industry on 24 August.

Taking part in the meeting hosted by the President were also Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Parkhomchik, who oversees the forestry industry, and Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Maksim Yermolovich.

The head of state recalled that when he appointed Aleksandr Kulik forestry minister a year ago, he told him about plans to take stock of the situation in the forestry industry. Back then the President said that a forestry minister should be an open, honest, principled person who could get this industry into shape.

“A forest is a forest. Almost half of the country is covered by forests. This is our asset, a God’s gift. And we should not only preserve it, but take good care of it. We should harvest mature forest in time, process it, so that the country can make good use of it. There were a lot of questions regarding the work of former ministers, officials and managers, people who were in charge of the forestry sector. Therefore, I chose you over other candidates because you seemed to be an absolutely down-to-earth person who is well-versed in this industry and loves nature,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“A year has passed. What has changed over this time? Especially with exports and markets? We have a lot of low-grade trees, as you say, wood waste, and so on. How do we remove all this from our forests and recycle it? What do we get from it?” the President asked.

When appointing the new forestry minister, Aleksandr Lukashenko set a new task - to make wood cheaper for people who want to build homes in rural areas. “What is the state of things here? This question should be addressed primarily to the government, but you are also a member of the government,” the head of state said.

He also asked about the reforestation effort: “How is the work going on with planting material? What problems do you encounter in this work? I remember a few years ago I visited your nurseries, and back then I agreed to allocate additional land for planting tree seedlings. What is the progress here?”

“Good order in the forest is of paramount importance,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

According to Aleksandr Kulik, the Forestry Ministry has restructured its work amidst the sanctions. Before the sanctions, 60,000 cubic meters of lumber was exported monthly, now (after a drop in exports), the lumber export bounced back to reach an all-time high of 77,000 cubic meters,” the minister said.

Before the sanctions, the EU countries were the main sales markets for Belarusian lumber accounting for 56% of the country’s lumber export. After the lumber export to the EU was discontinued, the main consumers were China (52%, previously 37%), Azerbaijan (24%, previously 4%) and Russia (6%).

“We have occupied this niche, and most importantly, the export rose both in terms of volume and value. Over seven months, we shipped products worth $90.4 million,” said Aleksandr Kulik.