The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” will plant more than 5.5 thousand hectares of new forests in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, said Yuriy Bolokhovets, CEO of the state enterprise.
“We have started the largest planting of new forests in the history of Ukraine in the South. This fall, we will create more than 5.5 thousand hectares in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions! This figure is incredible. Every year, no more than 200-300 hectares of new forest were planted in the regions. The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has increased the planting area twenty times,” he wrote on Facebook.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” intends to plant mixed forests that are more resilient and resistant to climate change. For planting, the company has selected petiolate oak, maples, pines, ash, and shrubs. The company will supply more than 800 thousand seedlings with a closed root system to the region.
According to the company’s CEO, the area of forests in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions does not exceed 140 thousand hectares. They are mainly for recreational purposes, with only sanitary felling (firewood). The income from timber sales, particularly in the form of firewood, would not even be enough for southern forestry enterprises to pay their salaries. Forestry in the region was chronically subsidized: staff worked on a quarter and half-time basis, there were no fuel and lubricants, no cultivators.
Mr. Bolokhovets named the lack of qualified personnel as one of the main problems of the industry. The Southern Forestry Office currently has more than 400 vacancies: forest master, forester, assistant, etc.
The reform in the industry has enabled the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” to optimize its work and make a profit, which has made it possible to find investments for the development of the southern region.
“Local foresters finally received salaries, equipment, fuel, and planting material. We have started working with communities – in the last two months alone, 1.7 thousand hectares have been transferred for planting. Finally, we have money, equipment, and land,” said the CEO.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” intends to make the development program for the southern region a long-term one.
As reported, the state specialized economic enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is one of the largest forest users in Europe and the largest forest user in Ukraine. It is managed by the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine. The company manages 6.6 million hectares of state forest land.
In 2016, Ukraine launched a forestry reform. It has already introduced the sale of unprocessed timber at electronic auctions. 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.
The state-owned enterprise Forests of Ukraine has increased its profit to UAH 2.6 billion following the results of nine months of work, the company’s director general, Yuriy Bolokhovets, has said.
“This is ten times more than the industry earned before the reform, in the times of state forestry enterprises. We send the lion’s share of profit to the state budget. These are funds for new weapons, ammunition, military salaries,” he noted.
According to the press service of the enterprise, for nine months “Forests of Ukraine” transferred to the state budget 4.7 billion UAH, which is 1.1 billion UAH more than last year. Hundreds of millions more hryvnias the enterprise invested in new equipment for the AFU.
“The record profit was achieved in a falling market. The situation in the timber market has not improved. Compared to last year, the average selling price of an impersonal cube of untreated wood fell from UAH 1.8 thousand to UAH 1.7 thousand. We also gave up our own processing – realization of sawn timber by branches of SE decreased from 2.8 to 2.1 billion UAH”, – explained Bolokhovets.
According to the head of the company, the profit of SE has increased due to detenization and increased efficiency of the state enterprise. The majority of purchases have been transferred to Prozorro, which allowed to eliminate gaps in timber sales related to direct contracts – products are sold at the established competitive market prices.
It is noted that customers are offered additional services, in particular, loading and customs clearance of products. The level of fulfillment of exchange contracts has increased to almost 90%. Services of contractors for harvesting and other works have been standardized, and boundary prices have been introduced.
In addition, the electronic accounting system was improved, which made it more difficult for illegal timber to enter the market, and the demand for legal products increased accordingly. Also, all non-purpose expenses of branches such as “paving stones” were reduced.
State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” standardized the staff of branches and reduced unnecessary administrative staff, as a result of which it replaced almost half of the branch managers.
The company has also decided and sells subsidized facilities through the State Property Fund.
“Really counteract fictitious works and services, which in the times of leskhozes were a common phenomenon. We have abandoned the use of expensive and inefficient financial instruments, which previously often led to the leaching of funds from state forestry enterprises – for example, the lease of equipment at unreasonable rates,” – summarized Bolokhovets.
As reported, the state specialized economic enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is one of the largest forest users in Europe and the largest in Ukraine. It is under the management of the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine. The company manages 6.6 million hectares of state forest lands.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has increased its profit to UAH 2.6 billion in the first nine months of operation, according to the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“This is ten times more than the industry earned before the reform, in the days of state forestry. We direct the lion’s share of our profits to the state budget. These are funds for new weapons, ammunition, and military salaries,” he said.
According to the company’s press service, over the past nine months, Fores of Ukraine transferred UAH 4.7 billion to the state budget, which is UAH 1.1 billion more than last year. The company invested hundreds of millions of hryvnias in new equipment for the Armed Forces.
“Record profits were achieved in a declining market. The situation on the timber market has not improved. Compared to last year, the average selling price of an impersonal cube of unprocessed wood fell from UAH 1.8 thousand to UAH 1.7 thousand. We have also abandoned our own processing – sales of sawn timber by the SOE’s branches decreased from UAH 2.8 billion to UAH 2.1 billion,” explained Bolokhovets.
According to the company’s CEO, the SOE’s profits have increased due to de-shadowing and increased efficiency of the state-owned enterprise. Most of the procurement was transferred to Prozorro, which made it possible to eliminate the loopholes in timber sales related to direct contracts – products are sold at prices set by competitive markets.
The company emphasizes that its customers are offered additional services, including loading and customs clearance of products. The fulfillment rate of exchange contracts has increased to almost 90%. Contractors’ services for procurement and other work have been standardized, and ceiling prices have been introduced.
In addition, the electronic accounting system has been improved, making it more difficult for illegal timber to enter the market, which has increased demand for legal products. Also, all untargeted expenses of the branches, such as “laying pavement”, were reduced.
SE “Forests of Ukraine” has standardized the staff of its branches and reduced unnecessary administrative apparatus, resulting in the replacement of almost half of the branch managers.
The company has also decided to sell subsidized facilities through the State Property Fund.
“We are really counteracting fictitious works and services that were common in the days of forestry. We have abandoned the use of expensive and inefficient financial instruments that used to often lead to the leakage of funds from state forestry enterprises, such as renting equipment at unreasonable rates,” Bolokhovets summarized.
As reported, the state specialized economic enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is one of the largest forest users in Europe and the largest in Ukraine. It is managed by the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine. The company manages 6.6 million hectares of state forest land.
The state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” together with communities and international partners launches the Forest Recovery program, said the general director of the enterprise Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“There are more than 1.5 million hectares of self-sown forests in Ukraine. Previously, such forest was ruthlessly destroyed. But now there is a legal mechanism to save it. We are launching the Forest Recovery project together with our western partners Forest Europe and Eustafor. They support such an idea,” he wrote on Facebook.
Bolokhovets said that communities on a volunteer basis transfer land plots, in particular degraded areas or self-sown forests, to the state enterprise. They understand the importance of preserving and enhancing nature, the need to improve the ecosystem, to pass on to their descendants a comfortable environment for life with the presence of recreational areas, ecotourism, etc.
Director General of “Forests of Ukraine” thanked eco-conscious communities that care about the future of society. They will be awarded with diplomas, and information about the project implementation will be passed on to international partners.
The first winner of Forest Recovery was Omelnytska community (Poltava region), which transferred 55 hectares of land for forest planting and almost 129 hectares of self-seeded forests for the restoration of the branch “Kremenchug Forestry”. In gratitude, foresters landscaped the central street of the settlement.
The state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is launching a project to create a system of personnel reserve, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“Forests of Ukraine employs more than 30 thousand people in all regions of the country. Thousands of management positions. Recently, we have been actively getting rid of managers who commit abuses or violations (…) But where and how to find the best personnel? (…) That’s why we are creating a system of personnel reserve,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to Bolokhovets, the reserve should open up growth opportunities for the capable and hardworking. Every employee who wants to take part in the competition can apply, be tested and undergo a comprehensive assessment of knowledge and skills. Once a vacancy is opened, the HR committee will conduct a selection process, taking into account candidates from the reserve. Employees who are selected for the personnel reserve will be given the opportunity to improve their skills at training courses in law, management, psychology, IT, etc.
The Director General of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” expressed hope that the new system of candidate evaluation will be not only objective, but also transparent with the possibility of public control.
Currently, the talent pool system is being finalized, a list of positions is being formed, and tests covering all aspects of the company’s work are being developed. The reserve for three positions has already been launched in a pilot mode: a forester, a branch director, and a deputy director of a regional office.
The state enterprise expects that the reserve will start working next year. And all appointments to senior positions will be made exclusively on a competitive basis.
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 Prozorro electronic platform.
To date, the SFE has harvested more than 130 thousand cubic meters of firewood for the 2023/2024 heating season.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is launching a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the Prozorro electronic platform, said the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets.
“Forestry enterprises have always procured harvesting services under direct contracts. We are planning to fully transfer them to open tenders. This is several billion hryvnias a year. In the fourth quarter, a pilot project will be launched in several regions. Specialists from the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” are analyzing the market and working on developing technical requirements,” Bolokhovets said.
According to him, the reform is expected to create a competitive market, attract the maximum number of players, invest in modern equipment and new technologies, create additional jobs, increase contributions to budgets of all levels, reduce illegal logging, and improve the quality of work.
“This is the fourth stage of the anti-corruption program we are implementing. At the first stage, we banned direct contracts and transferred timber sales to specialized exchanges. At the second stage, we transferred the main purchases of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” – from fuel to road construction – to Prozorro. At the third stage, we abandoned unprofitable processing facilities and started transferring them to the State Property Fund,” explained the head of the company.
Mr. Bolokhovets noted that the anti-corruption program of the Forests of Ukraine also includes strengthening control tools and digitalization. However, the problem of corruption can only be overcome by institutional reforms, the creation of a system that minimizes the “official factor” and introduces transparent and open rules of the game for business, he emphasized.
