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Zubkov Council Out on a Branch
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov held the first session of the government's permanent Council on Forest Industry Development, which he chairs. The council will have broad legislative and financial powers and will even be able to develop initiatives for the industry's vertical integration. Although the session was planned as purely organizational, talk turned to money and specific projects any way. It was decided that the development institutions – the investment fund and Development Bank – would begin financing the industry in August of next year.
Until recently, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov was charged with handling forest issues, which he attempted to do through the government commission on industry, technology and transport, which he controls. He had no luck with the problem and is not included in the new commission. Instead, Ministry of Regional Development Dmitry Kozak, Ministry of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko, Transportation Minister Igor Levitin and Minister of Natural Resources Yury Trutnev join Zubkov there.
Zubkov announced that the council would be formed when he attended a meeting of the Forest Industry and Lumber Exporters' Union in Vologda at the beginning of the month. The decision was made at the first session to form working groups on science and education, processing, the legislative base and forest management.
According to Zubkov, of the world's 130 billion cu. m. of raw lumber exported annually, 51 million cu. m. of it comes from Russia. The forest industry accounts for 2 percent of the Russian GDP, 3.5 percent of the country's industrial production and 3.2 percent of its currency receipts, using only 23 percent of the total felling area. The forest industry paid 58 billion rubles in taxes last year, and has a tax debt of the same amount remaining.
The prime minister has identified five projects to recommend for financing. They will receive money from the institutions of development on cofinancing conditions, however, and only for infrastructure use. The investment fund will take a maximum share of 10 percent and the Development Bank a maximum of 25-30 percent.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 24, 2007
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