In 2023, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” reduced fuel consumption by almost half compared to 2021 – to 16.8 thousand tons, saving approximately UAH 1 billion, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“In 2021, the enterprise of the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine purchased 34.7 thousand tons of fuel, in 2023 our company has already spent about 16.8 thousand tons. It is clear that the comparison is conditional. Not all state forestry enterprises have joined the Forests of Ukraine, and the volume of timber harvesting has partially decreased. However, the savings are obvious,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to him, such indicators were achieved due to centralization and increased control.
“The director of the branch (forestry) no longer determines the norms as he sees fit. Standards have been approved that are uniform for all. We promptly detect and severely punish “tricks” with writing off fuel for equipment that was not actually working,” explained Bolokhovets.
The general director of Forests of Ukraine said that each inspection of the branch by the Security Department involves an analysis of how and where the equipment was used and the result of its work.
“Forests of Ukraine also plans to introduce online monitoring systems for the movement of special and loading equipment. The ERP system, which automates data accounting and processing, is being prepared for procurement.
In addition, the state-owned enterprise purchases fuel mainly centrally through Prozorro. The price is lower than the ceiling price at gas stations (before the reform, some forestry enterprises managed to buy 30% more expensive).
“Taking into account the de-shadowing and transparent procurement, up to a billion hryvnias have been saved on fuel,” Bolokhovets summarized.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. As part of it, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been introduced. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the electronic platform Prozorro.
