Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, together with Sergiu Lazarencu, Minister of Environment of the Republic of Moldova, visited forestry enterprises in Zhytomyr region.

The Moldovan colleagues are interested in the Ukrainian experience in changing approaches to the management of the industry. After all, the reform in Ukraine is based on the best European approaches.

The ministers toured a number of locations, from recreational facilities, a forest seed centre and a forest nursery, which were completed during the war, to temporary timber storage facilities, a forest fire station and forest crop plots.

‘The forestry industry in Ukraine is no longer subsidised, and even more so, it pays significant taxes to the state budget. The profit of the State Specilalized Enterprise ‘Forests of Ukraine’ for the first half of 2024 is UAH 11.14 billion. Currently, no logging tickets or certificates of origin are issued on paper. We have converted them into digital form, and in fact ensured the traceability of timber circulation from the place of harvesting to export sales. Every cubic metre of timber is now electronically recorded. More than 42,500 certificates and almost 74,000 logging tickets have already been issued through the system,’ said Ruslan Strilets.

We are also continuing to implement the President's Green Country programme, which provides for the planting of 1 billion new trees over 5 years. More than 608.6 million trees have already been planted, or 60.9% of the target.

The process of transferring self-reforested forests to SSE ‘Forests of Ukraine’ is underway. We have agreed to transfer 50,000 hectares across Ukraine starting in 2023. This is an opportunity to increase the area and preserve our forests, which are the country's ‘lungs’ and ‘natural shield’. Today, forests are particularly vulnerable, as the hostilities cause fires and destruction of ecosystems. 2.4 million hectares of Ukrainian forests have already been liberated from occupation and need to be restored.

‘Moldova is interested in our experience in implementing the reform, because European integration is impossible without European forestry standards. This reform is a model for turning a subsidised industry into a profitable one. Therefore, we are sharing our experience with colleagues and paving the way to the EU together,’ Ruslan Strilets said.