Deputy Head of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine Volodymyr Bondar has proposed that the Forestries and Wood Industry Ministry is created, the press service of the agency has reported.
“Having a separate ministry, we will be able to bring the forest industry to a high level,” Bondar said at the fourth congress of foresters of Ukraine.
He added that the State Forest Resources Agency does not have the right to initiate legislation to speed up the resolution of a number of issues, in particular, the separation of economic and control functions, the fight against illegal logging, the drying up of forests, and the creation of a timber market.
According to the deputy head of the agency, the creation of the ministry will make it possible to develop a national forest policy, conduct a forest inventory and properly finance all work in forestries.
As reported, enterprises of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine in 2018 saw UAH 466.1 million in net profit, and their net revenue rose by 23%, to UAH 16.8 billion. Enterprises of the agency logged 16.5 million cubic meters of wood and produced goods made of wood for UAH 3.139 billion.
According to the national budget for 2019, UAH 614.7 million will be provided to the State Forest Resources Agency, including UAH 462 million for forestries and hunting, protection of forests in the forest fund.
The total space of forest areas of Ukraine is almost 10.4 million hectares. The forest cover of Ukraine is 15.9%. The State Forest Resources Agency manages 7.6 million hectares of forests (73% of the forest fund of Ukraine).
