The Duma passed the bill on LesEGAIS in the first reading

The bill proposes to create LesEGAIS (Unified State Automated Information System for Timber Accounting and Transactions Therewith) and determines a list of data to be contained in it and the procedure for their provision. The initiative stipulates that the execution of contracts on the use of forest areas for felling, timber accounting, and transactions with it must be carried out in electronic form only using LesEGAIS. Besides that, it introduces an electronic form of the accompanying document for the transportation of timber and stipulates its registration in this system. The operator of LesEGAIS will be the Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz) or its subordinate authority.

To stop illegal harvesting, the document prohibits citizens from being in the forest with vehicles or equipment intended for timber harvesting and haulage without permits. The bill also introduces such a form of monitoring the compliance with the forestry legislation as the administrative examination of forests allowing to make decisions on whether inspections are required based on the analysis of data obtained from information systems and remote sensing.