Photo from UNIAN
According to a report by UK-based NGO Earthsight, timber exports from Ukraine to the EU over the past four years grew by 75%, exceeding EUR 1 billion reported in 2017.
Ukraine's government on July 18 instructed the State Audit Service, the State Fiscal Service (SFS), the National Police, and the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre to inspect the state forestry enterprises (SFEs) regarding allegations of roundwood smuggling from Ukraine.
"Today I propose that the State Audit Service, the State Fiscal Service, the National Police, and the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre to launch thorough business audits at all forestry enterprises across Ukraine, with concrete data on invoices, those who signed them, checkpoints of exit, and specific surnames," Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman told a government meeting on July 18.
The official also added that the Cabinet had already transferred to the Prosecutor General's Office all information available about the revealed smuggling schemes.
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The Ukrainian government will also ask the European Union to provide access to data on timber batches delivered from Ukraine to the EU.
"And we will see that it was [cheap type] wood that had been shipped from Ukraine, while roundwood timber was entering [the EU]. I'm sure about that," the prime minister said.
Groysman also instructed Ukraine's state-run railway operator JSC Ukrzaliznytsia to send online to the SFS and the National Police the photos of all rail cars carrying timber.
As UNIAN reported earlier, according to the report by UK-based non-governmental organization Earthsight, which examines problems of illegal deforestation around the world, Ukraine is the largest single supplier of illegal wood to the EU, exceeding all of the tropical countries of Latin America, Africa and SE Asia combined. During the moratorium on deforestation, the Ukrainian forests are being cut with the wood being exported bypassing not only the national legislation but also the EU regulations and certification at such a rate that the timber exports to the EU in four years grew by 75%, exceeding EUR 1 billion reported in 2017.