The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 1003 dated September 7, 2022 "Some issues of reforming the management of the forest industry". It became effective on September 10 and provides for the reform of the forest industry. The resolution specifies that in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the privatization of state and communal property", the privatization of the forests of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine", which will be transformed into a state enterprise, is prohibited. The right of permanent use of land plots for forestry purposes is transferred to the disposal of SE "Forests of Ukraine".
How the global forest reform is implemented in practice — EcoPolitic investigated it.
The issue of drastic changes in the forest industry is currently being extremely actively discussed among foresters. A reform is being rapidly implemented in the industry, which is practically not advertised or discussed anywhere, but radical changes started in the fall and gained an active phase precisely in these New Year and Christmas days. At least, it was at the end of 2022 that all the employees of the forest farms wrote applications for dismissal, and the forest farms announced the termination of their activities. At the same time, the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" was created, where all former forest farms should go and which, according to many foresters, is the start of its further reformation into a private joint-stock company.
However, there is too little official information on this matter. Forest workers themselves have the impression that there may be reasons why reforms are deliberately introduced with as little publicity as possible. That is why rumors, conjectures and forecasts are actively spreading around this topic, which further exacerbates the difficult situation, creates confusion, pessimism, uncertainty about the future among forest industry workers, especially in the field.
Therefore, forestry farms as such are liquidated (158 of them were counted at the beginning of this process), after which all forestry enterprises also apply en masse to join the newly created SE "Forests of Ukraine". In the place of forest farms, branches should be formed, the heads of which have already been appointed (mostly former heads of the same forest farms).
A model with two independent verticals of forest management is also being formed. From functional transformations:
- SE "Forests of Ukraine" carries out economic activities;
- Regional departments of the State Forestry Agency implement state policy and monitor the activities of forest users;
- The State Forestry Agency coordinates the interaction of two management verticals – SE "Forests of Ukraine" and regional offices of the State Forestry Agency.
Will forest farm workers get a job after layoffs? After all, these are tens of thousands of specialists. Which of them will have a job in forestry, and who will look for it in other industries? What awaits the forest industry after the reform — will the creation of "Forests of Ukraine" not be a step towards the subsequent creation of a private structure and the transfer of forests into private hands? It is this fact that causes the greatest concern. This is what the foresters themselves say about this, they say unofficially, since most of them still hope to get a job in the newly created branches, clearly understanding that, most likely, they will hire first of all those who "do not speak up" and do not say too much, but only clearly perform instructions "from above":
Ivan Dmytrovych, before his dismissal, was the head forester of the State Forestry Farm, 32 years of experience in forestry:
I personally have the impression that everything is leading to the fact that our forests can be handed over to private individuals. This is my opinion, and may it not be confirmed, however... Will private individuals take care of the forests, plant them? Although they say that reforms are planned to be carried out on the model of some European countries, however, such activity as the reproduction of forests and their care does not seek any commercial benefit, it has always been and is unprofitable from the very beginning, therefore, the question is rhetorical. Forest farms have always made the most profit from product processing, and with these funds we had the opportunity to carry out our main activity — forest care and restoration. How it will be now, when this processing is taken away from us, is unclear.
Which of the dismissed workers will be lucky (and nowadays, in the conditions of increasing unemployment in the country, to have a stable job in a specialty - it can really be considered lucky) to get a job again? Most likely, those who are the most "obedient" do not speak out, do not criticize, but only listen and submissively obey any orders that come from "above". Even if they raise a number of difficult questions. Foresters are indignant that no one understands what kind of reform this is, how it will be implemented, they are dissatisfied with the fact that everything is kept quiet. It is worth mentioning that this reform was tried to be implemented 5 years ago, but the employees of the forestry farms actively opposed it, went to protest actions and listened to us. And here somehow they just took it and carried it out so quickly and quietly, and we can't even come out and express our opinion on this matter, because the situation in the country is such that it's not time to go out with protests. Perhaps they took advantage of this.
shutterstock
Mykhailo Ivanovych, chief engineer worked in forestry for 24 years:
I personally do not understand at all and even somewhat suspect the secrecy of information from SAFRU (State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine). This may mean that SAFRU either does not have a clear plan for the implementation of reformation, or this reformation is, let's say, not quite all right there.
We, foresters, are outraged by the fact that the top management of the industry does not consider ordinary workers of the forestry complex to be their colleagues, executors of the reform process and forestry specialists, but sees them as some gray mass without the right to vote and the need to express their opinion on reform. Such a humiliating attitude towards the staff of the forestry complex led to the fact that the rating of the apparatus of our agency among foresters fell, as they say, "below the plinth".
Taking into account the clumsy actions of SAFRU on reformation, the conclusion is suggested that there is some other shadow goal of reformation, which remains unknown and can be the subject of conjectures and drives the reformation process into a dead end.
Taking into account the presence of Resolution of the CMU No. 1003 dated 07.09.2022, a clear program should be developed for its implementation in order to carry out the reform, which defines the purpose of the reform, the procedure for its implementation, and necessarily the financial results of the reform and the activities of the SE "Forests of Ukraine" after the reform . If the governing body respects itself and the labor team of foresters and society, it is advisable to publish such a document approved by the Ministry before reforming. But nothing was done.
Some people's deputies, as noted by the NGO "Open Forest", spoke against such changes, but despite this, the Cabinet of Ministers began reforming the forest industry. Activists believe that such a rush to carry out reforms under martial law is alarming.
"Can you imagine how impatiently the authors of the reforms are waiting for the transformation of the state-owned enterprise into a joint-stock company in order to introduce their members to the supervisory board of the joint-stock company "Forests of Ukraine" to manage the public good? The next step in the reform is to fill positions in local branches, so to speak , closer to the forest," the material says.
According to the materials of the NGO "Open Forest", the former director of the Velikobychkiv Forestry, Yury Soima, who is involved in many corruption scandals and is associated with the "forest mafia", is applying for the position of head of the Velikobychkiv branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine". As reported by Regionews, cases in which he is accused of embezzlement of public funds and forgery of documents are currently being considered in court.
Yuriy Stepanovych, chief forester, 48 years of experience in forestry, currently on well-deserved rest:
The reform raises many questions and concerns for all foresters. And most importantly, will our forests fall into private hands? Here it should be determined – who initiated this reform? Judging by who is lobbying for it at the highest levels, whose people are behind it, I personally see the figure of a well-known Ukrainian oligarch (Greek by origin) who has his own large wood processing enterprises throughout Ukraine.
It worries me personally. Because you can't remain indifferent when you invest so many years of life and work in your favorite business, just like my other colleagues. We are told that the forest reform will follow the example of other European countries. The same Baltic countries. Sorry, but the area of the Baltic countries is like our one region. How can you compare here?
Ukraine has huge forest areas, one of the largest in all of Europe. They also put Poland as an example. I have personal experience in this regard. Together with colleagues, we visited Poland several years ago to exchange experience. The first thing that caught my eye was that there are small forestry farms with an area of 17-25 thousand hectares, but in our country they are being consolidated, combined, and the current forestry farms already served 50-60 thousand hectares. And when these forest farms turn into branches, they will lose the status of a legal entity. And this causes concern, because there are issues that need to be resolved very quickly, otherwise the quality of the work will be lost. And if there will be a reduction in foresters, then some reforestation works will lose in quality, because there will simply be no one to do them. This is my forecast, but how will it be in reality... Let's live - we'll see.
Well, in fact, we would really like to believe that Ukrainian forests will be preserved and multiplied. However, it is obvious that at present the workers of the forest industry, as well as all those who support our environment, are disturbed and alarmed by the fact that such a fundamental reform of the forest industry is being done "on the sly." Why are there no official explanations and where are the government's arguments about the need for such a reform? Because it all looks like another attempt to saw down the forest and take it abroad.
