Topic: Development of the forestry and wood-processing industries. Participants: Members of Parliament, leadership of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine and SFE “Forests of Ukraine”, scientists, and representatives of leading business associations.

“The issue we must address is the shortage of raw materials for Ukrainian wood-processing enterprises,” said Oleksii Soboliev.

“The main reason lies in excessive regulation — outdated sanitary rules, inefficiencies in certain environmental procedures, and often unjustified restrictions on economic activities in forests. Forests are a strategic resource, one that can be regularly renewed. They should generate added value and play a key role in the economic development of the country.”

According to the Minister, the increase in harvesting and processing volumes must go hand in hand with fulfilling key environmental commitments. Therefore, a joint action plan will be developed — one that will include short-term steps to expand harvesting and long-term strategic decisions that take into account environmental impact and integration into EU markets.

Head of the State Forest Resources Agency, Viktor Smal, noted that the decisions developed jointly by the Ministry, Members of Parliament, and business associations will help balance environmental policy and economic development.

“We are talking about updating sanitary regulations, simplifying the environmental impact assessment procedure, introducing modern harvesting methods, and revising the State Forest Management Strategy of Ukraine until 2035. Outdated sanitary rules, inefficiency in certain environmental procedures, and frequent unjustified restrictions on economic activities in forests — all these are factors that cause a shortage of raw materials for Ukrainian wood-processing enterprises,” – said Viktor Smal.