Products of the woodworking industry from Ukraine have already begun to occupy a niche vacated after the elimination of Russian and Belarusian products on the European market. This was discussed during the hearings in the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development on the topic of substitution of Ukrainian goods for imports from Russia and Belarus.

According to the results of a study by the analytical center CMD-Ukraine made public during the hearings, before the imposition of sanctions, Russia was the largest supplier of wood and timber products to the EU.. Ukraine in this indicator was in third place after the Russian Federation and China.

On the eve of the war, in 2021, Russia exported to the EU products of the woodworking industry and furniture for $3.8 billion.

In Belarusian exports to the EU, wood and wood products had the largest share. In 2021, Belarus exported timber and timber products to the EU for $1.7 billion.

Of this volume, Ukraine has the potential to replace woodworking and furniture products from the Russian Federation by $1.9 billion, and from Belarus by $0.86 billion. This was noted during the hearings by the head of CMD-Ukraine Igor Guzhva,.

Substitution is already happening, both in the European Union and in the world.

According to the organizer of the hearings, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development Dmitry Kisilevsky, the Ukrainian woodworking industry demonstrates one of the highest growth rates compared to other sectors of the Ukrainian industry.

Plywood, chipboard, MDF, wooden furniture - Ukrainian manufacturers have significant opportunities to replace Russian and Belarusian supplies to the EU with these products:.

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According to him, the woodworking industry of Ukraine has received great potential as a result of the adoption of nine packages of sanctions by the European Union, which, in particular, limited the import of wood and wood products (including furniture) from Russia and Belarus..

Recall that since the beginning of 2023, a reform of the state forestry has been underway, during which all the specialized farms of the State Forest Agency are merged into a single company " This should increase the controllability and efficiency of the use of forest resources..