For the third time, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” held an exchange auction with the possibility of concluding forward contracts for the first half of 2026 for a period of six months at a fixed price for the purchase of forest products, as a result of which 100% of the volume put up for auction was contracted, the press service of the state-owned enterprise reported.
“Forests of Ukraine” recalled that it put up for auction 465 lots with a volume of 1.4 million cubic meters of forest products (35% of the planned volume of half-yearly timber harvesting for commercial sale) and informed market participants in advance about the volume and structure of the lots.
“Both firewood and roundwood were sold at 100% of the volumes put up for auction,” the statement said.
The company set the starting prices at the auction at the level of the starting prices for the fourth quarter of 2025, which turned out to be significantly lower than the current sales prices. The average selling price for commercial pine in the fourth quarter was UAH 5,900/cubic meter, while the starting price for forward trading was UAH 3,900/cubic meter. Industrial firewood (PV) from coniferous species was sold for UAH 2.3 thousand/cubic meter, while the starting price was UAH 1.3 thousand/cubic meter.
During the auction, commercial pine rose in price to UAH 6.2 thousand/cubic meter, and PV firewood from coniferous species rose to UAH 2.4 thousand/cubic meter. Compared to the general auction in the fourth quarter, beech rose the most in price, to almost UAH 7 thousand/cubic meter (+52%).
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” assured that it would ensure the delivery of all timber sold under forward contracts. As of November 17, the fulfillment of forward contracts for the second half of 2025 is 75% and corresponds to the planned indicator.
As for supplying firewood to energy companies, the state-owned enterprise is a regular participant in tender procedures for the purchase of wood for state customers in accordance with the Law “On Public Procurement.”
Lesy Ukrainy has attracted the attention of energy-generating enterprises, as foresters are ready to supply more than 1 million cubic meters of logging residues for their needs.
The state-owned enterprise added that more than 40% of the firewood has already been sold to the population and social facilities at fixed prices for the heating period.
State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched an autumn forestry campaign, which will see the completion of the President’s “Green Country” program to plant a billion trees. The billionth tree is planned to be planted in a month. According to the head of the enterprise, Yuriy Bolokhovets, the main goal of the initiative is not only to achieve a quantitative indicator, but also to restore ecosystems and form a culture of responsible attitude towards nature.
“The restoration of Ukrainian forests and the increase in the area of forest reserves should unite Ukrainian society and draw attention to the problems of ecology and biodiversity conservation. Forest restoration is part of the restoration of our country,” Bolokhovets said.
During the final stage of Green Country, special attention is being paid to creating new forests in regions where they did not previously exist, or restoring areas destroyed by military operations, fires, or illegal logging.
The first autumn planting took place in the Kyiv region, in the Khotianiv Forestry (Dymerske Forestry) near the village of Nyzhnia Dubechnya. Last year, almost a hectare of young forest burned down in this area after a rocket strike. In total, since the beginning of the year, more than 60 hectares of forest have been destroyed in the Dymer Forestry due to UAV and rocket strikes.
Pupils from the Vyshedubechansky school forestry, students from the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, and children of forestry workers joined in the restoration efforts.
“We are creating new forests for future generations of Ukrainians, so it is very important to instill in our children and young people a love for the forest and a responsible attitude towards it,” emphasized the head of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine.”
The restoration of the destroyed area is being carried out using modern technology: rowan, birch, and viburnum are being planted along with pine trees. This combination of species promotes better seedling survival, maintains biodiversity, and reduces the risk of fires.
Pine seedlings with a closed root system are grown at the selection and seed center in Zhytomyr region.
Over the next few weeks, the autumn forestry campaign will start in all of the company’s forestry operations.
According to Bolokhovets, “Green Country” is a joint project that symbolizes the future: “We are restoring forests together with children, schoolchildren, and students — after all, this is the country in which they will live and work.”
The state forest fund of Ukraine is 10.4 million hectares, of which 9.6 million hectares are covered with forest, and about 2 million hectares are occupied by self-forested territories, the head of the State Forestry Agency Viktor Smal said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He specified that the State Forestry Agency manages 73% of the forest fund, 13% are communal forests, 1% are defense forests, and 6% are in the use of other agencies. “About 7% of forests are historically not provided for use, and we seek their transfer to state enterprises. We have already received positive decisions on about half of the 45,000 hectares of submitted applications,” he said.
The State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine is a central executive body coordinating the management, protection, reproduction and rational use of forest resources of the country. The agency supervises more than 70 state enterprises, including the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, as well as scientific, environmental and inventory institutions.
In January–September 2025, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” increased its revenue from product sales by 25.4% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 21.7 billion, according to the press service of the state-owned enterprise.
According to the report, half of the funds received by Forests of Ukraine were directed to budgets at all levels. The enterprise also increased its tax payments in the current year by almost 70% to UAH 10.7 billion.
“Thanks to the growth in sales revenue, significant savings on purchases, and optimization of expenses, profitability increased from 14.8% to 28.6% compared to last year,” Lisy Ukrainy specified.
In September, the state-owned enterprise harvested the largest volume of timber in the last five months. Harvesting volumes reached 1.07-1.1 million cubic meters per month.
The fulfillment of auction contracts for the supply of timber currently stands at over 90%, and taking into account buyer refusals, 97%. A significant proportion of refusals occur in the frontline, eastern, and northern regions, where the risks of harvesting or delivering products have increased. Forward six-month contracts are almost 100% fulfilled.
The balance of products in the company’s warehouses at the end of the quarter is the lowest since the beginning of the year – 550 thousand cubic meters.
Lesy Ukrainy drew attention to the seasonal increase in demand for firewood for the population, which corresponds to last year’s level. In September, the company harvested over 300,000 cubic meters of firewood. By the end of 2025, it plans to harvest over 900,000 cubic meters more to build up a strategic reserve for the winter period.
“Exchange prices for firewood have risen significantly since last year. For the population and the social sphere, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” maintains social prices at a stable level. The average cost of firewood in Ukraine, as in the previous year, is approximately 1-1.1 thousand hryvnia per cubic meter,” the state-owned enterprise summarized.
According to the results of the auction, the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” contracted 99% of the volume of round timber and firewood for the fourth quarter of this year, the press service of the SE reported on Telegram.
“Demand for wood continues to grow. (…) The average price of roundwood rose to UAH 6,800/cubic meter (in the third quarter — UAH 5,700/cubic meter, in the second — UAH 5,400/cubic meter). The average price of firewood for industrial use is UAH 2,300 per cubic meter (in the third quarter — UAH 1,800 per cubic meter, in the second — UAH 1,500 per cubic meter),” the report says.
As noted, the starting prices of the auctions were lower than the sales prices in the third quarter. The state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” tried to restrain price dynamics, but in conditions of free competition, the final prices are determined exclusively by demand.
To increase supply, Lisy Ukrainy put all available resources up for auction (except for firewood for the population, the social sector, and resources for the Armed Forces of Ukraine). A small percentage of products that buyers rejected were immediately put up for additional auction. Products for which there was no demand or which had a high price were put up for Dutch auction to determine the market price.
According to the state-owned enterprise, 1.5 million cubic meters of wood in the second half of the year was supplied to customers under forward contracts at a fixed price, meaning that processors were able to avoid the risk of rising product costs in advance.
In addition, during July-September, timber harvesting consistently exceeded 1 million cubic meters.
“As for increasing harvesting, this issue requires comprehensive solutions, most of which are currently beyond the competence of foresters,” said Forests of Ukraine, adding that the volume of main use logging over the past three years has remained virtually unchanged, within the range of 5.6-5.7 million cubic meters.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) found LLC “Marxoll” (formerly LLC “Dryada Zakhid”) and LLC “Ligna Ukraine” guilty of collusion during their participation in two tenders for the purchase of plastic cassettes (with an estimated value of UAH 34,470,680.00) and the purchase of tags for marking timber (with an estimated value of UAH 26,534,070.00) held by the state-owned enterprise Lesa Ukrainy in 2023 and 2024, the press service of the agency reported.
The committee established circumstances which, taken together, indicate that the companies engaged in anti-competitive concerted actions with the aim of eliminating competition between them during their participation in the aforementioned tenders. The facts revealed showed joint and coordinated behavior by the companies in preparing for and participating in the tenders, as well as communication between them and the exchange of information, the statement said.
The AMCU recognized the actions of Markosoll LLC and Ligna Ukraine LLC as a violation of competition law under paragraph 4 of part 2 of Article 6, and Article 50(1) of the Law “On Protection of Economic Competition,” which led to a distortion of the tender results, and fined them a total of UAH 5,495,260.
The agency recalled that, according to the Law “On Public Procurement,” the basis for refusing to participate in a procurement procedure is the fact that a business entity (participant) has been held liable within the last three years for committing anti-competitive concerted actions related to the distortion of tender results.
