Russian export duties will decrease

Russia's WTO membership will immediately cut timber export duties and thus lower the cost of exporting raw timber from Russia to Finland. The euro amount of the softwood export duty will be halved and hardwood duties will be cut to one quarter of their present amount. Pine and spruce will in future be imported to the EU market and Finland as part of a quota totalling 9.5 million cubic metres. Export duty for spruce is 13% and for pine 15%. For birch the duty is 7% and for aspen 5%.

Removing trade and investment barriers benefits both countries

Over the last fifteen years, Finnish companies have invested a total of one billion euros in the Russian forest sector. The projects have helped Finnish forest-industry operators to acquire valuable experience in the purchasing of local raw material for plants they are planning to build in Russia.  

 Most of the raw material that Finnish forest industry has imported from it’s eastern neighbour is of a type that is little used in Russia. Timber has to be imported because Finland's own supply of birch pulpwood is insufficient. Expansion of the Finnish owned sawmilling sector in Russia has also boosted imports of chips in recent years.