Timber production in Ukraine declines to 15.9 mcm in 2017

Production of merchantable timber by Ukrainian enterprises engaged in forestry management declined by 2.5%, or by 412,000 cubic meters, in 2017, to 15.9 million cubic meters (mcm).

Deputy head of the State Agency for Forest Resources Volodymyr Bondar says 7.3 mcm of the said volume was produced during felling for primary use. This accounted for 89% of the timber harvesting limit set for 2017 and was 125,000 down against 2016, the agency said.

Read alsoEU explains position regarding lifting of moratorium on round timber exportThe expert noted that in 2017 timber sales via electronic tenders were successful. The state-owned Forestry Innovation and Analytical Center developed software for the bidding. The agency's task for 2018 is to increase timber sales via the electronic trading platform.

"E-bidding will continue to develop in the future. This is the only tool that provides effective pricing and transparent rules. There will be no massive introduction of electronic trading as it will be done in stages, in diversified manner, taking into account the specifics of the area in each case," Bondar said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, merchantable timber output rose by 1.7% in 2016, to 19.6 mcm, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

Forestry enterprises subordinate to the State Agency for Forest Resources completely fulfilled the tasks of reforestation at the sites of last year's felling, having restocked 53.2 hectares of forests.