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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · Russia · 2020–2025

Russia's 1 January 2022 ban on exports of unprocessed softwood and valuable hardwood logs

Nature's voice · report
My forests lose more than they regrow: by the Deputy Prime Minister's figure of 2020, loss exceeds regeneration by about 450,000 ha a year on average, and more than 35 million ha of lost forest needs restoration.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
  • In 2022 reforestation exceeded my dead and felled forest by 18% (1.3 million ha), according to the head of Rosleskhoz. Government of Russia
  • My burned area fell from 10.1 million ha in 2021 to 3.3 million ha in 2022, according to the head of Rosleskhoz. Government of Russia
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 1 not measured · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

President Putin instructed in September 2020 that exports of unprocessed or roughly processed coniferous and valuable broadleaf timber be banned from 1 January 2022. The government implemented export duties and EAEU quotas, and in December 2025 extended prohibitive duties on beams and sawnwood to the end of 2028.

−54%Unprocessed timber exports, first quarter 2022 against first quarter 2021
1.4 million m3, Interfax citing the Federal Customs Service; only non-valuable species such as birch and aspen may still be exported.

Status As of 31 December 2025: Resolution No. 2204 extends prohibitive duties on beams and sawnwood to 31 December 2028.

What?
Russia introduced prohibitive export duties and EAEU quotas, described by the President and press as a ban, on unprocessed coniferous and valuable broadleaf timber from 1 January 2022. President of Russia
Where?
Russia nationwide; largest log-exporting regions in 2020 were Khabarovsk, Vologda, Irkutsk, Primorsky, Leningrad, Krasnoyarsk and Karelia. Interfax
When?
Instruction 29 September 2020; in force from 1 January 2022; prohibitive duties extended to 31 December 2028 by Resolution No. 2204 of 29 December 2025. Government of Russia
Who?
Gained
  • Russian wood processors — Soft loans through the Industrial Development Fund proposed for deep-processing capacity President of Russia
  • Far East and East Siberian processors — Rail shipments of roundwood to them rose 36% in 2022 (RZD) EastRussia
Lost
  • Log exporters — Unprocessed timber exports fell 70% in 2022; Far East logging workers reported unemployed (industry account) EastRussia
Harmed
  • Russian forests — Loss exceeding regeneration by about 450,000 ha a year on average (2020) Government of Russia
Why?
Putin cited uncontrolled export of unprocessed timber through grey and criminal schemes, archaic logging, lack of reforestation and the aim of deep processing in the Far East. President of Russia
How?
Export duties (Resolution No. 2068), EAEU export quotas recorded in LesEGAIS (Resolution No. 380) and prohibitive duties on beams and sawnwood (No. 2204). Government of Russia (via FAO FAOLEX)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

At a meeting on 29 September 2020 (published 30 September 2020) President Vladimir Putin instructed that from 1 January 2022 a complete ban be introduced on exporting from Russia unprocessed or roughly, only-for-show processed timber of coniferous and valuable broadleaf species. He cited grey and criminal export schemes ("contraband"), logging at a low technological level, a lack of reforestation and the aim of deep processing in the Far East, and instructed customs to ensure roundwood is not exported disguised as sawnwood. He proposed soft loans through the Industrial Development Fund for small and medium enterprises to build processing capacity.

The instruments on record set duties and quotas. Government Resolution No. 2068 of 27 November 2021 sets export customs duty rates for goods leaving the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) customs territory from 1 January 2022 (for example oak logs at 20% but not less than €30/m3, beech and ash at €100/m3, Scots pine and spruce/fir at 80% but not less than €55.2/m3, birch 7%, aspen 5%). Resolution No. 380 of 16 March 2022 sets annual limits on exports of HS 4403 timber to EAEU states, requires EAEU exports to be recorded in LesEGAIS and sends exports to Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan by rail only. Resolution No. 737 of 15 May 2021 put duties on sawnwood with moisture above 22% from 1 July 2021.

After the ban the Federal Customs Service reported that unprocessed timber exports fell 54% year on year in the first quarter of 2022; for the full year 2022 exports fell 70% and roundwood exports were 3.5–3.8 million m3 (expert estimates relayed from Kommersant), with China taking 2.25 million m3. Industry and economists quoted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta in December 2021 described stagnation and an undermined raw material base.

On 29 December 2025 Resolution No. 2204 extended prohibitive duties on beams and sawnwood to 31 December 2028; the government said the aim is to keep restricting raw timber exports for which sawnwood serves as "cover goods". In 2020 Deputy Prime Minister Abramchenko said forest loss exceeds regeneration by about 450,000 ha a year on average; in 2023 Rosleskhoz head Sovetnikov said reforestation in 2022 exceeded the area of dead and felled forest by 18% (1.3 million ha).

  1. 2020Putin instructs a complete ban from 1 January 2022 (29 Sep); Abramchenko gives forest-loss figures (21 Oct)
  2. 2021Resolution No. 737 duties on moist sawnwood (1 Jul); Resolution No. 2068 export duty rates adopted (27 Nov)
  3. 2022Ban and duties in force from 1 Jan; Resolution No. 380 on EAEU quotas (16 Mar); first-quarter exports fall 54%
  4. 2023Sovetnikov reports 2022 reforestation and satellite-detected illegal felling (10 Mar)
  5. 2025Resolution No. 2204 extends prohibitive duties on beams and sawnwood to 31 December 2028 (29 Dec)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“I instruct that from 1 January 2022 a complete ban be introduced on exporting from Russia unprocessed or roughly, only-for-show processed timber of coniferous and valuable broadleaf species.”

President Vladimir Putin · 29 September 2020 · translated from Russian · President of Russia

“From such predatory use of the forest we must move to rational use planned many years ahead.”

V. Spirenkov, deputy head of Rosleskhoz · 9 December 2021 · translated from Russian · Rossiyskaya Gazeta

“The industry is, in essence, already stagnating.”

A. Sidorenko, Dalexportles · December 2021 · translated from Russian · Rossiyskaya Gazeta

“Our raw material base has been undermined.”

“only non-valuable species may now be exported.”

Ruslan Davydov, First Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service · April 2022 · translated from Russian · Interfax

“Such restrictions have applied since 2022.”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Whether the measure is a ban or a regime of prohibitive duties and quotas
Government and regulators
President Putin

Instructed a complete ban from 1 January 2022 on unprocessed or roughly processed coniferous and valuable broadleaf timber.

President of Russia
Government and regulators
Government Resolutions Nos. 2068 and 2204

Set prohibitive export duty rates; Resolution No. 380 sets EAEU export quotas.

Government of Russia
Press and investigations
Lenta.ru and Rossiyskaya Gazeta

Describe the regime as a ban.

Lenta.ru
Effect on the industry
Company or project
A. Sidorenko, Dalexportles

The industry is already stagnating; two-thirds of over 30,000 Far East logging workers are reported as unemployed (as stated in Rossiyskaya Gazeta's text).

Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Government and regulators
Rosleskhoz (Sovetnikov)

Reforestation in 2022 exceeded the area of dead and felled forest by 18%.

Government of Russia

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • A "complete ban" on exports of unprocessed softwood and valuable hardwood logs from 1 January 2022.
    President Putin (instruction of 29 September 2020) and press (Lenta.ru, "Putin banned timber exports from Russia", 1 January 2022) · President of Russia
  • Exporters take only the best timber, do not process residues and do not reforest.
    Rossiyskaya Gazeta, stating the ban's environmental rationale (9 December 2021) · Rossiyskaya Gazeta

Recorded

  • 2019: roundwood (HS 4403) exports 15.2 million m3, 13.5% of timber export value (Abramchenko).
    Government of Russia
  • 2020: unprocessed timber exports 15.5 million m3, 7.2% of harvest (Federal Customs Service data); about 4,000 organisations affected; Far East unprocessed timber 42% of its timber export value against 12% nationally.
    Interfax
  • 2021: unprocessed timber exports 13.888 million m3, down 10.2% on 2020; first quarter 2022: 1.4 million m3, down 54%; main importers China 57% and Finland 18%.
    Interfax
  • 2021 total timber export value rose 38% to US$12.5 billion (Lenta.ru).
    Lenta.ru
  • 2022: unprocessed timber exports fell 70%; roundwood exports 3.5–3.8 million m3 (expert estimates); China 2.25 million m3 (59%, down 63%); total timber exports 27.1 million m3 (Rosleskhozinforg); logging fell by about one-third according to market participants; rail shipments to Far East and East Siberian processors rose 36% (RZD).
    EastRussia
  • Rail export tariffs through the two border crossings open to roundwood were raised 70-fold from 1 January 2022 (Interfax, article background).
    Interfax
  • Resolution No. 380 limits for 2022 include Armenia 1,265 m3, Kazakhstan 477,497 m3 and Kyrgyzstan 29,680 m3.
    Government of Russia (via FAO FAOLEX)
  • Resolution No. 2204 beam rates: conifer €200/m3, beech €250, ash €300, oak €370; sawnwood rates 10% but not less than €13/m3 for conifer, €15 for oak and €50 for beech and ash.
    Government of Russia
  • Forest loss exceeds regeneration by about 450,000 ha a year on average, and more than 35 million ha of lost forest needs restoration (Abramchenko, 2020).
    Government of Russia
  • 2022: reforestation exceeded the area of dead and felled forest by 18% (1.3 million ha); wildfire area fell from 10.1 million ha to 3.3 million ha between 2021 and 2022 (Sovetnikov, 2023).
    Government of Russia

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Russian timber exports (Abramchenko), China 42%≈ $8bn
Window: 2019
Russian total timber export value (Lenta.ru)$12.5bn
Window: 2021
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • russia-gov (29 September 2020): President Putin instructed a complete ban from 1 January 2022, citing grey and criminal export schemes, low-technology logging and lack of reforestation. · President of Russia
  • russia-gov (31 December 2025): The government extended prohibitive duties on beams and sawnwood to 31 December 2028, stating that sawnwood serves as cover goods for raw timber exports. · Government of Russia
  • rosleskhoz (9 December 2021): Deputy head Spirenkov said the forest must move from predatory use to rational use planned many years ahead. · Rossiyskaya Gazeta

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Forest loss over regeneration
about 450,000 ha a year
Average, Deputy Prime Minister Abramchenko, 2020
Reforestation over loss, 2022
18% (1.3 million ha)
Rosleskhoz head Sovetnikov, 2023
Wildfire area, 2021 to 2022
10.1 to 3.3 million ha
Sovetnikov, 2023
Unprocessed timber exports, 2022
−70%
Eastrussia, 27 January 2023

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No independent ecological evaluation

Accounts

  • Disputed Whether the measure is a ban or a regime of prohibitive duties and quotas
  • Disputed Effect on the industry

Record

  • Unclear Unclear: the legal act that imposes the HS 4403 export ban itself; the resolutions on record set export duties and EAEU quotas, while officials and press describe a ban implemented from 1 January 2022 on the presidential instruction.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: an official full-year 2022 Federal Customs Service figure for roundwood exports; the 3.5–3.8 million m3 figure is an expert estimate.
  • None on record None on record: an independent measurement linking the restriction to changes in illegal logging volumes.
  • Not measured Not measured: whether the restriction displaced low-value exports such as rough sawnwood rather than reducing them; the government's 2025 "cover goods" wording points to sawnwood as a substitute but no volume is given.

Did the harm stop?

None on record.

Who paid?

None on record. Industry commentators quoted in December 2021 reported job losses among Far East logging workers; the export duty receipts fell from RUB 15 billion in 2016 to RUB 11 billion in 2019 before the ban.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ Standard-setters and registries

Government and regulators

Press and investigations

  3. New timber export rules from January 2022
    Rossiyskaya Gazeta · 2021-12-09
  5. Roundwood exports collapsed in 2022
    EastRussia · 2023-01-27

Standard-setters and registries

  3. Government Resolution No. 737 of 15 May 2021
    Alta-Soft (legal database) · 2021-05-15

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.