Russian forest

The Ministry of Natural Resources failed its privatization

The introduction of private ownership of forests, just like the issue of land ownership in its time, could become a new political and economic game. However, its meaning, effect and balance of power are not yet as obvious as in the land issue.

Strictly speaking, the words of Economy Minister German Gref, widely circulated yesterday, that private ownership of forest lands will be introduced in Russia, since the possibility of this follows from the draft of the new edition of the Forest Code, looks like a bit of a stretch. This project, prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and discussed yesterday at a government meeting, actually caused a rather wary attitude. The document, as members of the cabinet admitted, turned out to be too crude.

In general, as the government hoped, the new code would help bring the industry out of the crisis. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, opening the meeting, said that in the year and a half since the adoption of the concept for the development of the country's forestry complex, the growth rate of production in the forest industry remained low. For the next 15 years, it was planned to increase the production of forest products by 4 times, but these rates most likely will not be maintained. Russia owns 20% of all forests on the planet, but it accounts for only 2% of global forest product exports. In terms of this indicator, it is significantly ahead of countries that are noticeably inferior in forest reserves. For example, Sweden exports 4 times more, Finland - 3.6 times.

The draft of the new code was assigned to the Ministry of Natural Resources. The department, based on the “spirit of the times,” decided that since land policy in Russia is moving towards private ownership, then the main emphasis should be placed on the right of private property in the forestry sector. Strictly speaking, the phrase “private property” of forests is not new at all for Russian legislation. The rights to lease, concession and property are also declared in the current version of the code. Another thing is that it does not allow you to use these rights in practice.

According to the new version of the code, everything should become simpler. Land plots will be sold through auctions. However, the topic of ownership is not spelled out in the project, but it talks about rent, concession, etc. Under long-term lease conditions, the plot must be transferred “without withdrawal of forest resources,” for example, for hunting or tourism. The area for felling can be taken into concession for a period of up to 99 years. At the same time, all rights of the user of forest lands will be specified in the agreement, which will relieve him of the need to obtain annual permits for deforestation. There is also the possibility of short-term targeted rental (for a period of up to three years), for example, for collecting firewood.

Private ownership of forests is not a panacea, according to the Union of Timber Industrialists and Timber Exporters. In order not to ruin the export industry, it is more reasonable to develop a form of concession, and in the new version of the code this issue has been poorly worked out, a representative of the Union said at a government meeting. Even the question of who will control the use of the forest plot has not been resolved. The Ministry of Natural Resources wants to reserve this right, but this is not stipulated by law. According to Kasyanov, “I have a fenced area of ​​forest on Rublyovka, how do you get in there?” It is not at all clear from the draft code what rights, for example, regions will have over forest lands. The prime minister was very surprised by this. “If the governors were sitting here, they would tear you apart for such a project,” he remarked to the document’s developers.

As a result, it was decided to finalize the code and reconsider it before November 1. However, as one of the high-ranking government officials told the Vremya Novostei newspaper, these deadlines will most likely not be met, since the draft MPR has not been coordinated with other departments and raises too many questions. Although, according to the same source, the issue is classified by the government as a priority and politically significant. Moreover, the most important thing remains to be decided: is it really necessary to introduce private ownership of forests? So it's clearly a long time before signs appear in Russia warning - as can be seen in many countries - that you have trespassed on a privately owned forest.

Irina SKLYAROVA, Vera KUZNETSOVA