Interfax Russian News, October 04, 2000
State Forest Service To Manage Russian Forests As Part of Natural Resources
Ministry
Russia's forest will be managed by the state forest service (Goslessluzhba)
as part of the Natural Resources Ministry. The new service will inherit the
functions and responsibilities once tasked to the federal forestry service
(Rosleskhoz). The new service is to be headed by First Deputy Minister of
Natural Resources Yuri Kukuyev, employed earlier as deputy head of
Rosleskhoz.
In an interview given to Interfax, Kukuyev noted that according resolutions
were submitted by the Natural Resources Ministry to the government.
According to Kukuyev, Goslessluzhba is to inherit all of the structure of
its predecessor in exploiting, replenishing and conserving forests.
Moreover, Kukuyev noted that "the entire employee makeup and technical
infrastructure of regional timber mills and forestry stations will remain
intact." At the same time, he noted that "more financial assistance will be
in the offing to protect forests from fires and pests, and replenish the
country's forest fund."
In particular, the draft federal budget for 2001 envisages allocating 2.6
billion rubles for these aims, 800 million rubles more than a year ago.
In 2000, Kukuyev continued, Leningrad, Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk regions
will begin implementing pilot projects to raise the productivity of forest
management, with the World Bank providing$ 60 million for the project.
Furthermore, he said that the U.S. international development agency USAID
took the decision to invest$ 20 million in 2000 in order to improve the
ecological situation in the taiga regions of Russia's Far East.
As was reported earlier, forests cover 1.1 billion hectares of land in
Russia presently. Russia contains 20% of the world's timber reserves.
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