Plundering Russia's Timber
9/12/99
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
Russia contains one of the greatest forest wildernesses remaining on
the Planet. For how long is yet to be determined. It appears that
China is turning to Russia to meet its own timber demands. China is
reeling from lack of timber supply brought on by recent reductions in
logging. There will be tragic Planetary consequences if China is
able to export deforestation rather than living within its ecological
means. Following are two items regarding the matter.
g.b.
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ITEM #1
Title: Plundering RUSSIA's Timber
Source: Environment News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 10, 1999
ZABAIKALYE, Russia, September 10, 1999 (ENS) - In cash-poor Russia
where timber workers have a tough time getting paid the wages due
them, illegal timbering is flourishing.
The Timber Mafia, people profiting from illegal timber extraction in
Siberia and the Russian Far East, are cutting a wide swath through
the forests on public lands, according to forest conservation groups.
Jennifer Sutton of the non-governmental organization Baikal
Ecological Wave reported in June that one notoriously corrupt
governmental official had finally been ousted after a lengthy
investigation. That was the good news. The bad news, she said, was
that his replacement appeared to be just as bad, if not worse. He had
set himself up to profit from illegal harvesting of timber on public
lands.
Though there have long been foreigners interested in making a profit
off of deals in raw timber, and a great deal of timber marked
"Baikal" sitting in Japanese lumberyards, at least in the case of
Japan, this was covered by an agreement with the government of the
Republic of Buryatia, with some kind of deal apparently made for its
transport.
But recently there are no holds barred with regard to timber
exploitation. Citizens of China have come looking for timber, which
has become scarce there due to new government regulations. The
devastating floods which have occurred in China in 1998 have
triggered a tough stand by China's government to curb deforestation
in that country's highlands, which has been implicated in the
flooding.
Quoting Sergei Kez in an article from the Russian national newspaper
"Novie Izvestia" in February 1999, "The Chinese are ready to pay, and
pay most often in cash without any paper documentation.
The government of the Republic of Buryatia in Zabaikalye has been
eager to earn money through logging, and allows a significant
harvest. Thus, sending the timber to Zabaikalye would be a way to
"launder" it. An Internet search of "Ulan-Ude" in July turned up
hundreds of items, the first four or five of which advertised timber
for sale, one going as far as to say, "Chinese welcome." Still,
investigators have been flabbergasted at the volume of illegal deals.
Frequent raids have helped reduce the number of small groups and make
the black market firms more wary, but the extent of the traffic, when
uncovered, is voluminous.
One would hope this great demand for a resource would boost the
economy of Siberia. Not so. Quoting Sergei Kez again, "even amidst
such wealth, most companies in the timber industry eke out a
miserable existence. Meanwhile, native and foreign machinators are in
for the pickings."
For example, several wealthy local businessmen established a closed
joint-stock company, "Sibles," in 1995, which a little later bought
40 percent of the shares of the Igirminsky experimental Timber
Company. One of Sibles' founders, a former chairman of trades union
committee of the Regional Administration, was set up as chairman of
the board of directors of Igirminsky. He secured a contract for
delivery of the best timber and wood chip to the Baikalsk Paper and
Pulp Mill (also represented among Sibles' founders) at prices lower
than the cost of the timber. The Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill has
been notoriously unprofitable.
In order to prop up this and other enterprises, Sibles began draining
the Igirminsky Timber company dry, threatening the enterprise with
bankruptcy. The timber company workers took part in this swindle
"without a murmur," says Sergei Kez, "not having seen real money for
months. The money actually did come in, but not to the company's
account. The timber loggers were paid in kind - with foodstuffs and
various goods, but at high prices."
The Regional Administration and police are fighting to stop this
hemorrhage of resources and funds, but are hampered by federal
authorities, who are working at cross purposes, and all the loopholes
in the laws.
ITEM #2
Title: CHINESE Firm to Log Khabarovsk, Russia
Source: Environment News Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 8, 1999
HARBIN, China, September 8, 1999 (ENS) - The Ministry of Foreign
Trade and Economic Cooperation has recently given permission to the
Harbin International Economic and Technological Cooperation Corp. in
northeast China's Heilongjiang Province to expand its timber business
in Russia.
Representatives of the Chinese firm will soon travel to Khabarovsk in
Russia's Far East to cut three million cubic meters of timber, "Asia
Pulse" reported Monday.
Deputy General Manager Yang Qiusheng said that the total investment
is estimated at 50 million yuan (US$6 million).
Yang said that the majority of the workers and equipment will be
obtained in Russia. The entire timber harvest will be sent to China
for sale.
Russia's forestry authorities have approved the project, Yang said,
because it reduces the possibility of an infection of insect pests in
the wake of disastrous forest fires last year.
"The company is the first to get permission for such work since
regulations were introduced on strengthening the administration of
Sino-Russian exploitation and utility of forest resources on April
26," said Yang.
The premiers of China and Russia signed a contract concerning timber
imports and exports during their fourth meeting last February,
Chinese officials said.