There are not many forests in Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan. And it is precisely this circumstance that aroused the suspicions of the journalists of “Re:baltica”. They were surprised to find that exports of wood from these countries to the European Union for 445,000 euros in 2020 and 2021 increased by more than 30 million euros this year.
“The import data is simply skyrocketing. And this is something that has never happened here, and it is not only with us. The second thing is that the Lithuanian customs said: this is very likely the way sanctions are being circumvented. And when we approached the Latvian customs, the Latvian customs also indicated that there are such cases,” said “Re:baltica” journalist Inese Liepiņa.
“Re:baltica” journalists managed to get information from companies that help the wood of Russia and Belarus to be misrepresented as resources of other countries. For example, Kyrgyz wood is mixed with Belarusian wood and resold to European countries as Kyrgyz wood. There are also merchants offering fake Kyrgyz or Kazakh wood certificates.
Detecting sanction violations becomes more problematic when dealing with wood products such as profiled boards or nailed pallets, since the sanctions are not formally violated.
“If you use wood from Russia or Belarus and you nail a finished product in Kazakhstan, then the country of origin is Kazakhstan. But the EU wood regulation was violated there. Also, this product is illegal, but there is no that’s why customs detain him,” said Kristaps Klauss, executive director of the Latvian Federation of Timber Industry. .
In addition, there are also products that Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan could theoretically export, as these countries have the necessary resources in small quantities. For example, birch plywood is produced in Kazakhstan.
“Kazakhstan plywood is actually very different in its poor quality. If it suddenly turns out to be Belarusian quality, then it is clear that it is smuggled”, said Kristaps Klauss, executive director of the Latvian Federation of Timber Industry.
As stated by the Customs Department of the State Revenue Agency, during the inspection of the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus from March to mid-December 2022, a total of more than 3,000 cases were found in which violations of these sanctions were found. Some of these cases involved wood products, furniture, wood pellets and briquettes.
The State Revenue Agency is aware of the risk of possible avoidance of sanctions with shipments of timber from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The service noted that customs control of timber and other goods subject to sanctions is carried out in an intensified mode.
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