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Risk Score
68.6
Risk Profile
Higher Risk
Conflict State
No
Log Export Restriction
Yes
Other Timber Export Restrictions
Yes
Import Regulation
No
Legality Risks Click for details on legality risks

On 24 February 2022 the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine. The political situation remains extremely volatile. The timber legality dashboard was drafted prior to the current conflict. 

  • Fraud and corruption have been historically a pervasive problem impacting the forest sector and the full timber supply chain from harvest to export. 
  • Reported rates of illegal logging in Ukraine vary considerably, reflecting the distinction between wood theft/illegal logging without papers and illegal logging with papers. 
  • High-profile investigations released in 2018 and 2020 by the NGO Earthsight report illegal logging associated with FSC- certified timber in Ukraine. FSC strongly denies Earthsight’s findings.
  • Enforcement remains limited in capacity. 
  • EU Member States have issued high alert warnings for illegal timber from Ukraine.
  • The political and legal context is evolving which makes the timber legality context fluid.

Read more by downloading the Ukraine Timber Legality Risk Dashboard here.

Latest Updates Click for latest news from Ukraine
August 25, 2023
EU Investigates Possible Illegal Imports Of Russian Plywood

The European Commission is investigating potential illegal imports of Russian birch plywood products into the European Union. CELEX:32023R1649:EN:TXT.pdf (europa.eu)   There has been a significant increase in imports of Russian birch plywood into Turkey and possibly Kazakhstan, and an increase in exports of birch plywood from both countries to the EU—although neither has been a significant producer of birch plywood in the past. The EU banned Russian wood after Russia invaded Ukraine.

More...
June 30, 2023
How Russia’s timber trade is sidestepping the EU’s Ukraine war sanctions

ICIJ partners in Europe revealed the indirect trade routes used to mask the origins of Russian timber, which continues to flow into the EU despite being banned.

 

Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, ZDF and others analyzed trade data to trace the pathway of banned wood through third countries, including China, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

More...
April 13, 2023
After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia and some of its accomplices were repeatedly accused of stealing grain and agricultural land. Now Ukrainian officials say that Russia is also stealing the forest.
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April 12, 2023
Illegal transport of birch plywood from Russia to the EU market must be prevented

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, about 80% of all birch plywood globally was produced in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

 

After the fifth package of sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU finally entered into force in July 2022, the import of roundwood and wood products, including birch plywood, from Russia to the EU was banned. However, according to information and statistics obtained from the market, it seems that illegal Russian birch plywood continues to be imported to Europe from third countries.

This is reflected in increased imports of birch plywood from countries such as Kazakhstan and Turkey. Considering the production capacity of Kazakhstan, we can see that the country does not have sufficient birch plywood production to be able to deliver the volumes recorded in the statistics.

 

Illegal birch plywood travels to the European markets in many ways. The import ban is evaded by transit through a third country, for example. The third countries may also make minor changes to the plywood, after which the country where the changes were made is reported as the products’ country of origin. Another way is to use a false tariff heading so that the product is excluded from sanctions.

More...
April 12, 2023
Russia Stole Land and Grain. Now It’s Taking Timber, Ukraine Says. Officials say acres of forest have been cut down for commercial gain or to fortify defensive positions

Russia has been accused of engaging in industrial-scale logging in Ukraine, cutting down large swaths of trees for sale and to strengthen its defensive positions. In a letter to President Putin, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu requested permission to harvest timber and stated that “wood not used for defense will be sold to finance the military operation.”

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October 1, 2021
Over 40 people convicted of illegal logging in Ukraine this year

Forty-three organizers of illegal logging schemes, including high-ranking officials of state forestry enterprises, have been convicted in Ukraine since the beginning of this year, Ukraine’s SBU State Security Service has told Ukrinform.

More...
September 1, 2021
Emerging Europe’s perfect storm for illegal logging

A group of companies found to have illegally logged as many as 4mn trees in Siberian forests supplied furniture giant Ikea with wood for years, with a product likely to have contained the illegally sourced Russian wood sold every two minutes, according to the results of an investigation by environmental NGO Earthsight released in July.

More...
Publications Click for publications related to Ukraine
Ukraine’s political context, including policies, institutional governance, and management of forests is rapidly evolving. Most information available to international audiences related to illegal activities in the forest sector has been driven by high profile investigations released in 2018 and 2020 by the NGO Earthsight. This includes allegations of illegal timber entering FSC-certified timber supply chains. […]
Key Resources
Click here for a collection of Forest Trends publications related to IDAT Risk, including the full set of Timber Legality Risk Country Dashboards.
Methodology
Click here to download the Methodology which includes information on data sources, the methodology used to create risk indicators, and a glossary of key terms.
Data Tools

Click here to access the Global Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (ILAT) Risk assessment tool and to download the Forest Trends User Guide describing the functionality of the ILAT Risk Data Tool.

Click here to access the Cattle Data Tool.

Export Restrictions
Click here to download a database of forest policy export restrictions.