Tag: interview

Timur Irtuganov, Director General, AFWIER: “The Russian furniture industry has all of a sudden turned “from a Cinderella into a princess” of the timber industry over the past 10 years”

The Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia (AFWIER) is a voluntary professional & civil society non-profit organization established in 1997 to consolidate the efforts of overcoming crisis phenomena in the furniture and woodworking industry and creating...

Nadezhda Ryazantseva, Analytics Director, Segezha Group: “In Q1 2024, we saw an increase of demand and prices in some locations”

In Q1 2024, the Russian timber industry was still recovering after the shocks of 2022. Nevertheless, some positive trends of leaving the sanctions-related crisis behind are gradually emerging in the industry. This has been noted by major timber...

Russ Taylor: In 2024, it will definitely be a buyer’s market in China

Although Russia’s share of international sawn timber trade does not exceed 16%, Russian products remain an important part of the global market, despite isolated European markets. For Russian sawmills, the focus of international trade is now on the...

Oleg Fokin, Director for Timber Export at Technonicol: “Now is a good time to invest in the woodworking industry”

Technonicol is an example of how large Russian companies are trying to diversify their businesses by investing in timber industry assets. In January 2023, the group purchased four woodworking enterprises in different Russian regions for a total of...

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.”

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...

Anton Zebants, CEO of VLP Group: “Timber enterprises need more prompt measures of government support”

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...

Valeriy Sergeevich Sukhanov, D. Eng., Honored Worker of the Russian Forest Industry: “The Russian timber industry has degraded”

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...

Vadim Fidarov, Government Relations Manager, Wooden Housing Construction Association: “Private housing projects are a market of cut-throat competition”

The segment of Russian wooden housing construction has been growing actively over the past few years. In that time, wooden structures have been used in a greater share of private housing projects, according to industry experts. The market...

Alexey Panshin, CEO, Giprobum: “The designer’s task is helping the customer understand in as much detail as possible what it is they want”

Large Russian timber companies have lately been purchasing design institutes to make them a part of their groups. Such institutes perform a series of design operations and render other services on renovation and greenfield construction of pulp and...

Alexander Sidorenko, Chairman of Dallesexport Association: “We do not need any support measures, just let us work in peace”

Since the late 2000s, export customs duties on roundwood have been repeatedly raised to reduce exports of Russian unprocessed timber. Thus, the Government of the Russian Federation has increased export customs duties on roundwood up to 25% since...

Jean-Francois Guilbert, Managing Director of FrenchTimber: “Sawn timber prices have been stable for 20 years so they’re catching up now”

FrenchTimber, an association founded in 2001 by the National Timber Federation (Fédération Nationale du Bois, FNB). The association is developing the French export of sawn timber and French processed wood products: it helps its members ship their products...

Metin Mete, General Manager at HAYAT Russia: “The whole market of paper tissue products is growing by an average of 5% a year”

In late 2021, Hayat Kimya (Turkey), a part of Hayat Group, launched pilot production of paper tissue products with the capacity of 70,000 t per year in Kaluga Special Economic Zone. The final investment value reached 10 billion...