Issues of development of pulp and paper industry in Russia

One of the main tasks of forest management is to achieve sustainable production and consumption of forest products with maximum utilization of the forest sector resources. At the same time, the enormous economic potential of the forest sector in Russia remains unused due to the lack of development of forest and woodworking infrastructure, high degree of depreciation of production assets and slow introduction of new technology such as industrial biotechnology based on renewable resources. The main role in the development of the forest sector belongs to the pulp and paper industry, as it involves the entire biomass of wood in the production turnover and produces products with high added value. However, as you know, over the past 50 years Russia has not built a single pulp and paper mill. Moreover, at present, several of the largest mills are at the stage of bankruptcy or experience financial problems. The goal of this paper is to identify problems in the development of the pulp and paper industry in Russia. Therefore, the author characterizes pulp and paper production and considers its technological cycle. In addition, the article points out the significance of the pulp and paper industry in economic development of the timber industry. The author identifies the main problems that hinder the development of the industry and shows its impact on forestry activities in general. Thus, the author notes the low level of investment in fixed capital and, as a consequence, the increase in depreciation of fixed assets, which negatively affects production and financial results of the pulp and paper industry. In order to solve these problems, the author proposes to concentrate the main efforts on the construction of new modern plants rather than modernization of existing production. In conclusion, the author notes that currently in Russia, for the first time in the last 50 years, a project for creating a pulp mill was announced, which, if implemented properly, will help increase the role of the forest sector in the regional economy.