OREANDA-NEWS. August 15, 2013. By 2016, the volume of timber harvesting in the Far East to be increased by 45% to 17.3 million m3, said the head of the Ministry of Development of the Far East, plenipotentiary representative of the president of Russia to the Far Eastern Federal District Viktor Ishayev.

"At the moment in the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) logging amounts to only 11-12 million m3 per year. Once upon, such volume was harvested in only one Khabarovsk region. According to our estimates, by 2016 the annual amount will increase to 17-18 million m3, "- said Viktor Ishayev in a statement published on the website of the ministry.

According to the ministry, the volume of processed timber will also increase, about 1.3 times. In 2012, the Far East has processed 4.9 million m3 of timber, and in 2016, it is planned to increase woodworking up to 11.9 million m3.

In 2012, tax proceeds from enterprises of the forest based industry of the FEFD in all budgets amounted to 2.5 billion rubles (USD 76,1 million). According to the calculations of the ministry, in 2016, subject to the successful implementation of investment projects, tax proceeds should grow by 1.5 billion rubles (USD 45,6 million) and amounted to 4.1 billion rubles (USD 124,9 million).

According to Vladimir Ishayev, there are many possibilities to increase the woodworking in the region. "Today woodworking is considered to be re-sawing, wooden waste and lumber selling. Gradually, however, there are a number of projects for the production of parquet, veneer, MDF. These projects should be supported by the state, then, there will be a significant boost to the development of the forest based industry. Of course, it’s necessary to change the customs regulation in the framework of the WTO requirements. If the profitability of unprocessed timber is higher than the processed one, then it will be impossible to develop woodworking sector ", - said the envoy.

The president's representative in the Far Eastern Federal District believes that  logging in the Far East will grow as the "northern" Russian wood is always competitive. It is used for external purposes, housing construction, while the "southern" wood doesn’t stand outside temperature and humidity, and is used for only as the interior decoration.

The situation in timber markets of the Pacific Rim countries will increase interest in Russian timber, said Ishaev.