Impact of the EU timber regulation on Russian companies exporting wood and wood-based products

The problem of illegal logging forced EU, which is one of the major consumers of wood in the world, to develop legislation aimed at termination of supplies of illegally harvested wood and wood-based products into EU. EU Timber Regulation №995 is applicable for any company placing wood or wood-based products on the EU market. Russia ranks first in illegally harvested timber export into EU markets, therefore EU Timber Regulation should influence substantially on Russian companies. Possible influence of the EU Timber Regulation on Russian companies was analyzed based on a questionnaire sent to Russian companies exporting wood and wood-based products. Analyses were supplemented by a literature review and expert’s opinion. Results from the questionnaire show that Russian companies are not going to stop export of wood and wood-based products into EU because of the EU Timber Regulation. They plan to revise their suppliers and internal company documentation and documentation from suppliers. Exporting companies plan to stop business with some of the suppliers and replacing by new suppliers is not obligatory. This means that export of wood and wood-based products may decrease.