CHEREPOVETS, Vologda region, September 5 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s exports of raw wood have more than halved in the past three years, from 50 to 21 million cubic meters a year, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said here on Monday.
Putin, who is also the leader of the ruling United Russia party, arrived in Cherepovets to attend a party conference dedicated to the development of Russia’s North-Western federal district.
According to the prime minister, the export of wood has gone down owing to the government measures to protect the domestic timer industry. Thus, in his words, the government raised round timber export duties and fixed preferences for domestic timber processing enterprises. “A total of 90 investments projects in the area of timber processing worth 105 billion roubles have already been launched in Russia,” Putin said.
“Meanwhile, we shall not give up the strategy of exporting processed timber,” he stressed and added that “it is applicable to sea bio resources as well.”