NEWS

On November 30, 2016 the II International Conference “Pulp and Paper Industry of Russia - New Realities and New Opportunities” has started work in Vienna (Austria). The event was organized by the Russian Union of Timber Industrialists and Exporters and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. The conference operator is the Paper Industry Experts Association.

The head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy took part in the international conference. “Russia has tremendous raw material potential for the creation of new pulp-and-paper plants and further modernization of the existing ones. The potential of the additional production capacity provision with timber exceeds 10 million tons of pulp,” Sergey Donskoy said.

The most promising regions in terms of the forest resources for the establishment of new pulp and paper plants, according to Sergey Donskoy, are the Krasnoyarsk Region (calculated unused felling rate 65 million cubic meters), the Irkutsk Region (39 million cubic meters), the Khanty-Mansijsk Autonomous District (Yugra) (36 million cubic meters), the Tomsk Region (34 million cubic meters), the Komi Republic (25 million cubic meters), the Khabarovsk Region (18 million cubic meters), the Chita Region (16 million cubic meters) and the Vologda Region (14 million cubic meters).

Sergey Donskoy also emphasized that Russia ranks first in the world in terms of most valuable coniferous forest species, and has 20% of global forest resources. However, 2/3 of these areas are in a harsh climate, the forest reserve is used not-efficiently, with a low yield of industrial wood and high costs in its procurement and transportation. “The situation should be turned around,” said Sergey Donskoy.