An international news investigation has found that Belarus exported timber to the European Union through Poland, using false documents to show that the wood came from Kazakhstan, a country with almost no forests, to circumvent sanctions.
After the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the EU's timber imports from Kazakhstan surged, with the value increasing 325 times, from approximately 387,000 euros in 2021 to nearly 126 million euros in 2023.
Poland's imports amounted to nearly 68 million euros, accounting for more than half of the latter.
However, an investigation by Radio Free Europe, Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and the Belarusian Investigative Center found that at least some of the wood imported from Kazakhstan was actually Belarusian.
The EU has previously imposed sanctions on Belarusian timber and banned the import of Belarusian timber.