During an exchange-of-experience trip to Poland with colleagues from the Latvian forest sector, the conversation also turned to the question of sanctioned timber from Belarus and Russia. The situation is absurd to the point of nonsense – namely, there are reports that timber is “travelling” to Europe in large volumes: by ship from St Petersburg, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, by rail from Belarus, and by other routes from the Caucasus and Central Asia. This is Russian timber that “on paper” counts as coming from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and other countries which, before 24 February 2022, were regarded as so-called non-timber countries. If anyone genuinely wants to check where timber originates, these days it can also be determined by so-called timber DNA analysis. It is not particularly difficult to trace cargo flows, or simply to travel to, say, Georgia or Kazakhstan and establish that the timber in question is neither harvested nor manufactured there. Simple enough in theory, but in practice, unfortunately, things work out rather differently… Incidentally, there were a couple of Polish companies that did not wish to receive the group of Latvian businesspeople, because, you see, “the Latvians buy timber from the Russians, pass it off as their own and export it onwards”… Here, though, the saying applies: “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matthew 7:1-5)

So – the European Union banned imports of timber from Russia and Belarus back in March 2022, shortly after the Russians invaded Ukraine. Until then, the Belarusians, for example, were exporting some one billion euros’ worth of timber to Europe each year.

Since the ban came into force, large volumes of timber have “suddenly” begun to appear in Europe, supposedly coming from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Imports from Kazakhstan (a country which until then effectively exported no timber at all), for instance, had increased 74-fold, and those from Kyrgyzstan around 18,000-fold. Could this be a spectacular “success story” for the development of the timber industry in these countries?

Central Asia – a timber-producing region?

A joint investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) and the partner network of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – OCCRP) concluded in December 2022 that Belarusian and Russian timber companies had evaded sanctions by submitting documents stating that their consignments came from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

“Timber imports from Kazakhstan to Europe showed incredible growth in 2022 and 2023, reaching almost 126 million euros (136.5 million US dollars),” states the investigation report, which particularly stressed Kazakhstan’s minimal involvement in the timber trade before the European Union’s sanctions against Belarusian timber.

Following these revelations, the European Union tightened customs controls and also discussed the matter with the Kyrgyz and Kazakh governments. As a result of those talks, the smuggling route was partly closed.

A year passed, and the BIC returned to the issue. It was found that imports of timber of Kyrgyz origin had fallen by almost 50%, while imports from Kazakhstan had risen, even though the areas of forest usable for timber production in that country are negligible.

The group of journalists reportedly obtained copies of more than 40 supply contracts. The contracts are worth millions of euros, which in turn points to Belarusian timber being brought into the European Union.

Suspicions that Poland serves as a transit country for bringing in Belarusian and Russian timber are reinforced by last year’s considerable rise in imports into Poland. Compared with 2022, timber import volumes increased almost fivefold – from 14 million euros (15.16 million US dollars) to nearly 68 million euros (73.64 million US dollars).

The report highlights the substantial increase in timber imports from Kazakhstan over the past two years. The same is noted by the Polish Chamber of Commerce of the Timber Industry, whose representative told the Polish paper Gazeta Wyborcza that these volumes could indicate that Russia and Belarus are succeeding in circumventing sanctions. The rise in plywood imports was singled out in particular. In 2022, Belarus was the 34th largest exporter of plywood. Kazakhstan had never previously produced plywood, yet over the past two years it has become a significant supplier of the product. Of course, a suspicious arrangement is immediately apparent here, since no plywood mills have been built at any great speed in Kazakhstan during this period.

Representatives of the Polish timber industry stress that member companies of the organisation have reported receiving offers to buy timber at unusually low prices. The tree species involved – Siberian larch, for example – clearly point to Russian origin. When the organisation learned of successfully concluded tenders for timber supply at state-owned enterprises (in which the price level was “abnormally” low – even lower than the cost of the raw material), it approached the Polish Ministry of State Assets calling for appropriate control measures to be taken. No reply has been received as yet.

Similar discrepancies have also been identified in Latvia and Lithuania. Both the Latvians and the Lithuanians imported millions of euros’ worth of timber from Kazakhstan, even though in previous years imports from these countries had been minimal. It is plain to see that such a situation is impossible under normal circumstances, given that forests cover only five percent of Kazakhstan’s territory and that the country imports timber from Russia and Belarus.

The BIC report describes the forgery of export documents; for example, a 2023 transaction was identified between the Kazakh supplier Nurr-Electro and a Polish company, despite the fact that the Kazakh Nurr-Electro had by then already been wound up.

There is further evidence that Kazakhstan’s export databases contain no records whatsoever. The documents name hauliers linked to Belarusian companies, and so the situation lends still more weight to the suspicion that Europe’s borders are open to Belarusian timber, whatever the sanctions may say.

Kazakhstan is not the only country “covering” for Belarusian timber exports. There are reports of the Polish company PLRBL, which in 2023 signed contracts for the supply of timber of Belarusian origin in Europe, disguising it as timber of Kyrgyz origin. The value of these transactions was estimated at around 15 million euros (16.25 million US dollars).

Deliveries under contracts of this kind in 2022 and 2023 are reported to have been identified in several countries – Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Hungary, France, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Estonia.

What can be concluded from information of this sort?

First – the sanctions introduced by the European Union against imports of Russian and Belarusian timber are not working properly, to put it mildly. Second – there is no sign of any genuine desire within the European Union to dismantle this system, even though it could be done fairly quickly, since the origin of the timber can be clearly established, as can the sudden and enormous growth in exports of timber products from the so-called non-timber countries. Third – the timber industry is part of a harsh market in which there will always be dishonest players who, for the sake of profit and regardless of anything else, will “trample on any principle and any moral norm”. Cynical, but a fact…