russia earns billions of euros by exporting timber to the eu to circumvent sanctions

It is noted that for nine months, Earthsight investigators, posing as buyers, recorded testimony from traders who openly admitted the illegality of their activities, directly calling the established methods of circumventing sanctions a “gold mine.”

According to the investigation, seven of the ten largest russian exporters of birch plywood continue to supply products to the EU despite the sanctions imposed in July 2022. The organization estimates that more than 500 thousand cubic meters of wood worth more than 1.5 billion euros were exported from russia to the EU through third countries, including China, Kazakhstan and Turkey.

An analysis of trade statistics and customs records shows that the business of these companies is booming. For example, imports recently reached a record high of more than 700 cubic meters of timber arriving at EU ports every day. Moreover, all 27 EU member states are likely to accept illegal plywood. Poland accounts for the largest share of shipments, followed by Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Estonia.

Investigators also found that two of the seven russian companies are linked to oligarchs who met with Volodymyr putin on the day of the invasion of Ukraine. One of them, Alexei Mordashov, is on the EU sanctions list. Another, Volodymyr Yevtushenkov, is the main shareholder of russia's largest logging company.

In addition, Belarusian state-owned enterprises are also involved in illegal timber trade in the EU.

The investigation also showed that a number of European companies could be involved in the purchase of illegal russian plywood through traders.

Among the buyers of russian wood are the Bulgarian company Walltopia, which was a supplier of climbing walls for the 2024 Olympic Games, the Estonian Technomar & Adrem, which cooperates with Hilton and Marriott chains, the Polish Werxal, which supplies furniture for Black Red White, and the Bulgarian toy manufacturer Komfort. The list also includes Spain's Forest Trafic and Italy's Castellana Legnami.

Source: Earthsight