The Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said at a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation that the Russian timber industry has increased its exports to countries in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
According to the deputy prime minister, logistical subsidies for Lesprom transport costs boosted growth:
"Companies in the sector have already shifted their supplies to friendly countries. To help rebuild routes, last year together with REC we provided Lesprom with 8 billion rubles in transportation costs. This has increased the export of processed timber to countries in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia amount. This applies to wood, plywood, paper, cardboard, cellulose, etc. "- Manturov quoted TASS.
He also noted that the decision to increase the number of container trains in the east direction in order to meet industrial demand had a positive impact on export volumes.
Earlier, Russian Railways announced that the company started accepting shipments of timber exported through Kazakhstan. Today, as the Ministry of Economy points out, timber transported by rail and water from Russian territory through the borders with Kazakhstan and Belarus can be exported through all existing rail and river border crossings without regulatory restrictions.
A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a series of directives aimed at supporting the LPC. Vice-Chairmen of the Government of the Russian Federation Viktor Abramchenko and Denis Manturov, Minister of Construction and Housing of the Russian Federation Irek Fazulin, Head of the Arkhangelsk Region Alexander Tzybulsky and industry Participants attended the meeting.
According to Kommersant, the government has been asked to improve the mechanism for subsidizing the transport of industrial products. Vladimir Butorin, head of the ULK Group, explained that the current compensation limit for large enterprises in the sector (500 million rubles) does not exceed 7% of logistics costs. He believes that transport subsidies should be distributed equally to all businesses on a quarterly basis.
Putin also ordered measures to provide additional support for forestry enterprises in the Northwest Federal District, namely considering increasing the export volume of timber products by railway and providing subsidies for sea transportation of timber processing products in Northwest ports.
Participants discussed separately with the head of state the possibility of deferring the payment of lease fees for unprocessed timber.
To support domestic demand for LPC products, the President directed the government to include factory-fabricated low-rise log cabins in the emergency housing resettlement program in 2023. Pellet producers, who will have to tighten their belts significantly in 2022 due to the sanctions, decided to support them with infrastructure budget loans (in the amount of no less than 15 billion rubles) over the next two years - these funds will be used to transfer municipal boiler rooms to pellets. .