OREANDA-NEWS. April 15, 2011. In Russia, birch pulpwood market is very small, and logging profitability in Russia is very low, while due to high export duties not all the wood is harvested, as said by Minister of External Trade and Development of Finland Paavo Vairinen speaking at the Russian Forest Industry 2011 conference held in Moscow. He said that high export duties decrease interest of Finnish business in investing in Russia.

The minister said that Finnish government is subsidizing forest owners in road construction and establishment of infrastructure: this ameliorates forest management and raw wood supply. Forest owners in Finland receive 75% benefit of roundwood sales.

‘We should stimulate growth of wood consumption as construction material and biofuel’, Vairinen said.