Customers of timber owe Forests of Ukraine up to UAH 500 mln

 In the warehouses of the state enterprise Forests of Ukraine, 100,000 cubic meters of round timber are waiting for shipment, and the business has increased its debt to UAH 500 million for already delivered products, the press service of the state enterprise reported.

Forests of Ukraine recalled that during recent meetings with the business there was a demand to increase the harvest, since the resource is in dire straits.

"But the facts show otherwise. Since the beginning of April, the "hotline" of the state enterprise Forests of Ukraine has not received a single complaint about non-fulfillment of contracts for the supply of wood due to the fault of foresters (the only case concerns a conflict between entrepreneurs in the Carpathian region, in which our employees became hostages). However, the volume of unselected products in warehouses has increased noticeably," the report says.

Forests of Ukraine drew attention to the fact that among those who do not fulfill their obligations there are companies from the top ten.

The responsibility of business for the disruption of contracts is currently minimal. Buyers practically do not risk anything. With significant fluctuations in market prices, it is sometimes easier not to select products under an open contract and go to the auction again, the state enterprise explained.

Meanwhile, Forests of Ukraine is experiencing increasing storage costs due to the accumulation of forest products and reloading of warehouses. Late payment negatively affects the state of settlements with service providers (primarily from logging). A forced stop destabilizes the work of harvesters, scarce workers are lost, who are difficult to replace.

"Our company is working on solving the problem. We are increasing the share of long-term contracts. The situation is certainly normalizing. However, the issue of business responsibility must be taken into account in further discussions on increasing harvesting. If we demand, then we respond," the state-owned enterprise emphasized.