The ХIV meeting of the Intergovernmental Council for the timber processing complex and forestry of the CIS countries was held in Petrozavodsk

On July 3, 2014, representatives of the CIS countries discussed the prospects of cooperation in the field of forest complex in Petrozavodsk.

Representatives of delegations of the Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, as well as representatives of the Executive Committee of the CIS countries, Federation of trade unions of forest fields of the CIS countries, as well as guests participated in the meeting.

The meeting was opened by the Chairperson of the Council, Deputy Head of the Federal Forestry Agency A.V. Panfilov.

The Minister for Natural Resources Use and Ecology of the Republic of Karelia, F.V. Chikalyuk, addressed participants of the meeting with an opening speech.

In compliance with the Agenda of the meeting, the main trends of cooperation of the member CIS countries in the field of forest management and forest industry up to 2020 were discussed.

In the course of discussion, delegation of the Republic of Belarus put forward several specific suggestions aimed at development of a closer cooperation between the CIS countries with regard to growing and realization of the planting material, as well as carrying out of forest accounting work. The Russian delegation suggested that joint workgroups be created for coordination of a two-way cooperation in the field of forestry.

The Federation of trade unions of the workers of forest fields of the CIS turned attention to the necessity of “human capital” development, as well as development of social standards, modern systems for training and retraining of specialists, investment into development of human potential and decent work.

The delegation of the Republic of Kazakhstan suggested that the data of satellite monitoring of the forest fund of the CIS be used jointly to solve the tasks regarding protection of forests.

Following the results of the discussion, the Council came to coordinated decisions, and the working plan was evolved for the next year.