The forest has moved – Newspaper Kommersant No. 240 (7441) of 12/26/2022

As it became known to Kommersant, the government went to meet the players in the timber industry at once on several issues of principle for them. We are talking about transport subsidies and quotas for the transportation of goods in the direction of China, the rules for transportation through Kazakhstan and the principles for calculating the rent for the use of forest plots. Market participants would like to further adjust the volume of transport subsidies. And experts propose to allow the transit of lumber through Kazakhstan not only by rail, but also by road.

Officials supported part of the proposals of timber companies on additional measures to help the industry, follows from the minutes of the meeting with the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov on December 16 (Kommersant has a copy). In particular, we are talking about an increase from 300 to 500 million rubles. the maximum amount of a subsidy within the framework of compensation for the costs of transporting industrial products. As follows from the document, the corresponding draft resolution, prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is under interdepartmental coordination. The Ministry of Finance has already supported the growth of the subsidy.

In addition, the government agreed to amend Decree No. 521 of 2010, which determines the procedure for the movement of goods across the Russian-Belarusian and Russian-Kazakhstan state borders.

The problem with the transit of dry sawn timber from the Russian Federation through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan and Asian countries arose in November due to amendments to this document.

According to him, now they can only be exported by rail to Belarus through the Russian-Belarusian border, and to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – through the Russian-Kazakhstani section of the border. At the same time, the decree prohibits the transit of lumber through Kazakhstan, although, given the reorientation of exports to the east, this route was extremely important for Russian companies. According to the protocol, the Ministry of Economy prepared new amendments to the document, and it was instructed to submit them to the government for approval by December 23.

Also, at the request of timber merchants who complained about the difficulties of logistics by rail, the Ministry of Transport and Russian Railways, following the results of the meeting, were instructed to work out the issue of increasing fines for non-fulfillment of agreed requests for transportation. In addition, they should consider changing the interim rules for scheduling cargo shipments so that shipments of timber products with “high social value” are given priority.

Another issue on which the ministries met the needs of the timber industry companies was the change in the procedure for calculating the rent for the use of forest plots. In 2023, it will be temporarily determined based on the actual harvesting of timber by tenants.

At the same time, the government did not agree to extend for another two years the deadlines for fulfilling investors’ obligations under priority investment projects scheduled for the period from September 2, 2022 to September 1, 2024.

Prior to that, they had already been shifted by a year. In addition, there was no agreement on the decision to change the balance of the allowable cutting area by reducing the felling of softwood forests in favor of coniferous forests.

Alexander Dyatlov, Chairman of the Arkhangelsk Regional Duma Committee on Timber Industry, Nature Management and Ecology, positively assesses the decisions made, but notes that the rules for obtaining transport subsidies need to be improved. So, now companies, regardless of size, receive the same compensation. But if for small companies the subsidy covers a significant part of the costs, then for large companies it is only a few percent. For example, the companies “Titan” or ULC, located in the Arkhangelsk region, spend up to 4.5 billion rubles. per year for the transportation of lumber by rail. “Therefore, we asked to compensate for such enterprises 50% of the costs and pay them quarterly,” says Alexander Dyatlov. In addition, he recalls, companies have significantly different distances to the main export destination – China: for example, enterprises in the North-West incur more costs than enterprises in the Irkutsk region.

At the same time, the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry considers the decision to pay rent upon procurement to be correct. “Today, companies are trying not to harvest leaves, because they cannot sell their balance sheets, but they still incur extra expenses for paying rent,” they explain, noting that the protocol does not contain precise indications of the timing of the decision.

At the same time, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry fears that only large enterprises will be included in the list of companies that will receive priority for the delivery of timber cargo by rail, and they doubt that even if the legislation changes, the priority for timber cargo during transportation will increase significantly.

“All the same, coal, metals and ore will be in the forefront, because it is more technological to work with these goods for the railway,” they note. Now, according to the Chamber of Commerce, Russian Railways is coordinating 10% of applications for transportation from Kirov to the border with China.

The WhatWood agency notes that, first of all, the government now needs to resolve the issue of transit through Kazakhstan and designate specific cargo checkpoints, as well as include the possibility of road transport.

Olga Mordyushenko