For the past three years, the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" has been marked by significant success in the sale of raw wood through licensed exchanges, achieving impressive results in the execution of contracts at the level of almost 90%. Thanks to the decision to switch to open auctions, the company was able to increase its profitability to 16%, which is a significant increase compared to previous years.
As General Director Yuriy Bolokhovets noted, the rejection of non-transparent direct deals became a key moment in the reform of the sector, which allowed all market participants to gain equal access to resources. This reform, in addition to increasing revenues, contributed to cleaning up financial flows in the industry.
In addition to financial improvements, the company is actively investing in its infrastructure. In particular, significant funds were invested in the fire protection system and the development of the road network in the forest areas. It should also be noted the increase in wages among employees, which currently amounts to more than 24 thousand hryvnias.
Since 2016, forestry reforms have been ongoing in Ukraine, including the introduction of electronic auctions and the creation of interactive maps of processing enterprises. The initiative "Forest in a smartphone" and the pilot projects of electronic issuance of logging tickets are important.
At the end of May of this year, the sale of non-core assets of the company, located in the Sumy region, for the total amount of 9.85 million hryvnias took place. The main assets were sold for amounts significantly higher than the starting prices, which indicates the effectiveness of the management of property resources. The mentioned sales included the equipment of woodworking enterprises and other real estate, which is now being prepared for further privatization.
In general, "Forests of Ukraine" remains one of the largest forest users in Europe and is active not only in the field of forestry, but also in the field of hunting, contributing to the protection and reproduction of hunting grounds.
For the first quarter of 2024, the company was able to increase revenue from the sale of wood by 30.8% compared to last year, reaching the figure of 5.1 billion hryvnias. These data indicate the continuation of positive dynamics in the activities of "Forests of Ukraine" and their significant contribution to the country's economy.
