OREANDA-NEWS. September 09, 2009. Ilim Group received a multi-site certificate for Chain-of-Custody covering all three branches of OJSC Ilim Group — Koryazhma, Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk, the company reported.

Paul Herbert, CEO of Ilim Group, said that “certification is very important for our сompany as we have a strong sense of responsibility towards forest resources preservation”. He added that “FSC certification is essential for our customers: they are very attentive to the origin of wood, which is the basis for our products”.

The Head Office of Ilim Group was certified according to FSC — STD — 40-003 standard developed by the Forest Stewardship Council specifically for certification of the chain of custody in large companies that have several sites with similar functions. Audits were successfully carried out during six months. As a result, the Head Office received FSC certificate and the branches obtained the right to label their products with FCS logo. In the recent years there has been an increasingly steady demand for FSC-certified products not only in Europe and the USA, but also in Japan and China. FSC CoC certification allows to improve the competitive position of OJSC Ilim Group’s products and guarantee that the Company maintains reliable sales channels in Western and Asian markets.

The FSC logo on the products is an indication of environmentally friendly technologies applied during the manufacturing process and previously, during wood harvesting, as well as a sign of compliance with the international and local laws and strict observance of rights of the employees and the local communities. OJSC Ilim Group certified the entire 5.3 million hectares of forest leased by the сompany, which is more than is certified by any other company in Russia. The company accounts for 25% of all Russia's certified forests.