Timber industry research & analytics Interview 
Russian Timber Journal 09-2023: Interview with Oleg Fokin, Director for Timber Export at Technonicol; Demand for furniture boards exceeded the supply in October; Global pulp prices have fallen steadily since late 2022, when they reached record highs; Timber products export by trucks to Mongolia and China was allowed for two more years; Segezha Group announces financial and operating results for Q3/2023; Ministry of Industry and Trade suggested cancelling the export duty on pulp and paper products; Russian furniture output surged; Over 9 months of 2023, the Russian roundwood export to EEU countries grew by almost 15%
December 5, 2023 ` 16:51
Russian Timber Journal 09-2023: Oleg Fokin, Director for Timber Export at Technonicol: “Now is a good time to invest in the woodworking industry”; Demand for furniture boards exceeded the supply in October; Global pulp prices have fallen steadily since late...
Dmitry Zachko, CEO at Plitwood: “The domestic demand needs to be incentivized. This will increase the sales of high-quality products within the country.”
December 4, 2023 ` 17:23
On September 22, 2023, Plitwood officially launched a plant producing large-sized plywood with a capacity of 180,000 m³ per year in Vokhtoga, a settlement in the Vologda Region. The investment value reached 12.5 billion rubles. The project was...
Russian Timber Journal 07-2023: interview with Segezha Group President Mikhail Shamolin after the announcement of the company’s financial and operating results for Q2 2023; Russian timber industry in 1H 2023: cautious signs of recovery; Mondi announces agreement to sell Mondi Syktyvkar; transaction on International Paper stake buyout by Russian shareholders is closed; Cherepovets Plywood and Furniture Plant and VLP Group have completed a major investment project on building a plywood mill in the Vologda region; Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia: in H1 2023, the Russian furniture output increased; President of the Russian Federation instructed to accelerate the issuance of documents for building multi-story wooden houses
September 28, 2023 ` 18:39
Russian Timber Journal 07-2023: Mikhail Shamolin, President at Segezha Group: “The price levels we have now reached reflect the current global situation”; Russian timber industry in 1H 2023: cautious signs of recovery; Mondi announces that it has entered into an...
Mikhail Shamolin, President at Segezha Group: “The price levels we have now reached reflect the current global situation”
September 28, 2023 ` 18:46
At present, Segezha Group is the only Russian timber enterprise publicly traded in the stock market. On August 29, the Group submitted the Q2 2023 report and held a conference call with the management team to discuss its...
Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza: “The period when the demand for birch plywood surpassed the supply in the available markets is over. The approach to sales changed too.”
August 17, 2023 ` 16:20
WhatWood agency talked to Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza, to learn how the world’s largest birch plywood producer has rebuilt its product sales processes almost a year after the European market became virtually unavailable. The group includes...
Russian Timber Journal 06-2023: interview with Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza; in 2022, Russian timber harvesting volumes dropped to the lowest level in the last 9 years; Russian timber exporters were able to reimburse up to 80% of their costs of product transportation via sea ports in the Northwestern Federal District; Federation Council suggested introducing prohibitive duties on furniture and paper from unfriendly countries; Essity has exited the Russian market; Luzales plans to open new plywood plant in the Omsk region; Russian plywood output increased in June 2023
August 16, 2023 ` 15:53
Russian Timber Journal 06-2023: Vitaly Demidenko, Sales Director at Sveza: “The period when the demand for birch plywood surpassed the supply in the available markets is over. The approach to sales changed too.”; According to the Rosleskhoz, in 2022, the...
Russian Timber Journal 05-2023: interview with Andrey Yudin, Logistics Director of Segezha Group; regional authorities ask to support the Russian timber enterprises due to the persisting tense situation in the industry; the Government of the Russian Federation extended the list of checkpoints along the land border with Kazakhstan authorised to process exports of timber products; Ilim Group became the largest timber harvesting enterprise in Russia in 2022; VLP Group to invest 2.6 billion rubles in Hasslacherles’ former enterprise; Segezha Group sold its European paper packaging enterprises for €100 million; L-PACK to invest over 10 billion rubles to build a corrugated cardboard plant in the Moscow region
July 7, 2023 ` 12:59
Russian Timber Journal 05-2023: Andrey Yudin, Logistics Director of Segezha Group: “We are witnessing a serious imbalance between the freight traffic flows and the availability of transport means”; the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies (AOSD) held an expanded meeting of...
Anton Zebants, CEO of VLP Group: “Timber enterprises need more prompt measures of government support”
July 5, 2023 ` 16:10
Anton Zebants, a person with extensive management experience in the forest sector, was appointed the new CEO of VLP Group (Group Vologodskiye Lesopromyshlenniki) at the end of January 2023. He had been the manager of the EGGER Drevprodukt...
Russian Timber Journal 03-2023: interview with Pavel Kunin, Commercial Director at Doza-Gran; Russia exports almost no unprocessed timber; list of assignments given by the President of the Russian Federation as a follow-up to a meeting on the development of the Russian timber industry; China plans to increase plywood production capacity in 2023; Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia suggests increasing the import duty on European furniture to 50%; owner of Leroy Merlin will hand over its Russian business to the management team; Governmental commission approved the sale of a share in Ilim by International Paper; large timber enterprises of the Tomsk Region are suspending production; Russian plywood output rose in February; Segezha Group sold its European assets that produce paper packaging; in 2022, the Russian export of wood and articles of wood dropped by almost one-fourth
April 10, 2023 ` 10:32
Russian Timber Journal 03-2023: Pavel Kunin, Commercial Director at Doza-Gran: “From the financial and time perspective, a wood pellet line is the most lucrative kind of investment associated with recycling sawmilling waste”; in 2022, the volume of roundwood export...
Russian Timber Journal 02-2023: interview with Yuri Strezhen, CEO at Praktika Group; state support measures for the Russian timber industry affected by the sanctions pressure; China reduced log imports from all the main suppliers in 2022; Vladimir Putin proposed to grant enterprises a deferment on forest area lease payments for unharvested timber; the Government of the Russian Federation increased the maximum amount of compensation for the expenses of timber enterprises for the transportation of their products; in 2022, Russia reduced the volume of logging by 13.5% to 194.6 million m³, according to Roslesinforg; Russian Railways resumed accepting sawn timber for export shipments through Kazakhstan; International Paper reaches agreement to sell ownership interest in Ilim joint venture; Segezha Group may reorient the Segezha West project to new products; the volume of furniture export from Russia dropped by 39% YoY in 2022, down to 29.5 billion rubles; Luzales and Slotex acquire Russian assets of IKEA
March 7, 2023 ` 15:24
Russian Timber Journal 02-2023: Yuri Strezhen, CEO at Praktika Group: “This is a good time to improve the efficiency of both production and administrative processes of enterprises”; support measures mentioned by the business, relevant agencies, regions, the Government...
Valeriy Sergeevich Sukhanov, D. Eng., Honored Worker of the Russian Forest Industry: “The Russian timber industry has degraded”
February 9, 2023 ` 15:22
On the cusp of drastic changes occurring in the Russian timber industry, it was thrilling to talk to a professional whose experience in this area spans over six decades. Valeriy Sergeevich Sukhanov started his career as a timber...
Russian Timber Journal 01-2023: interview with Valeriy Sergeevich Sukhanov, D. Eng., Honored Worker of the Russian Forest Industry; in 2022, the sawn timber export from Russia dropped to an 8-year low; North American companies continue to cut sawn timber production; the Government of Russia allowed transportation of roundwood and sawn timber to EAEU countries; in 2022, the Russian export of timber products reduced by two times and railway transportation, by 22%; over 25 billion rubles’ worth of transportation costs of industrial products export will be subsidized in 2023
February 9, 2023 ` 12:57
Russian Timber Journal 01-2023: Valeriy Sergeevich Sukhanov, D. Eng., Honored Worker of the Russian Forest Industry: “The Russian timber industry has degraded”; in 2022, the export of sawn timber from Russia dropped by 22% YoY, down to 23.5 million...
