The state enterprise Forests of Ukraine has put up more than 1 million cubic meters of wood for additional auctions, which will be held on the principle of Dutch auctions, said the general director of the enterprise, Yuriy Bolokhovets, on Facebook.

According to him, this volume of wood is a record and was accumulated due to products not sold during the fourth quarter of 2023.

“Uncertainty with borders plus the holiday period in the EU countries have reduced the demand for wood. Many processors have taken a break... Demand is gradually recovering, however, in some market segments the situation continues to remain difficult,” stated the general director of the enterprise.

Bolokhovets reported that due to the border blockade, the losses of branches of the state enterprise Forests of Ukraine exceeded UAH 1 billion within three months.

“If it were not for the timely reform, dozens of forestry enterprises would have been on the verge of bankruptcy already in January. Only thanks to subsidies from the central level, employees of all (!) of our branches receive salaries on time. All branches have working capital to carry out their activities, no one stopped," he emphasized.

Speaking about the plans of the state enterprise, Bolokhovets noted that against the backdrop of unfavorable assessments of the prospects for the wood market for both processors and sellers of raw materials, the company intends to support the market. There are no plans to reduce stock. On the contrary, more than 1 million cubic meters of wood will be added to last year's trading volume from the closure of state processing.

Forests of Ukraine will also continue to work to reduce costs, increase efficiency and eliminate corruption.

"This means a mandatory assessment and justification of investments, the most open and competitive procurement, efficient use of equipment and other resources. Sale of unprofitable assets, optimization of the administrative apparatus. Reducing the cost of resources thanks to the construction of new forest roads. Finally eradicating the phenomenon of substitution of wood grade and other manifestations corruption,” stated the general director of the state-owned enterprise