OREANDA-NEWS. August 31, 2012. Belarus’ Forestry Ministry promotes the idea of accelerating timber trade on the domestic market in order to manufacture commodities with a high added value, Deputy Forestry Minister Leonid Demyanik told a press-conference on Monday.

The official admitted that Belarus plans to stop exports of round timber by 2015 to make sure that all products are processed in Belarus and meet the requirements of the domestic market.

According to Demyanik, Belarus has already reduced round timber exports: in January-July 2012 round timber exports decreased by 116,000 cubic metres in comparison with January-July 2011. At the same time, sales on the domestic market increased by about 150,000 cubic metres.

The vice minister attributes the growing sales of round timber to the launch of two timber processing enterprises in Smorgon (Austria’s Krasnospan) and in Ivatsevichi.

In the meantime, Belarus plans to go on introducing contemporary lumbering technologies and equipment to make sure that the number of mechanized forest farms grows from 17% at the moment to 70% in 2015.