Ukrainian activists say America’s business in Russian wood, banned in the EU and Britain is helping to fuel Putin’s invasion and further enrich his cronies. Here are the key findings:
US business in “conflict timber” banned in the EU and Britain is helping fund Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and further enrich powerful oligarchs, Earthsight can reveal.
Our investigation, published today to coincide with the first anniversary of Putin’s aggression, found punitive American tariffs against Moscow have failed to halt imports of Russian wood.
More than 260,000 cubic metres of Russian ‘Baltic birch’ plywood (with an estimated retail value of $1.2bn) has landed at US ports since the conflict began, customs records show. EU officials say it is “impossible” to know where this wood really originates – and therefore who profits from it. The suspect plywood is being sold across the United States, including by one of its largest home improvement retail chains, Menards.
Earthsight found one of the top suppliers of the sought-after construction and furniture materials is a company part-owned by a billionaire Kremlin crony who met with Putin on the day of the invasion. Earthsight estimates he has made $44m from his stake since the invasion.
What’s more, Russia’s military owns an area of forest twice the size of New Jersey, Earthsight has discovered. More than a million cubic metres of logs are harvested there each year. US importers cannot be sure their products are not directly fuelling the Russian war machine.
Meanwhile, International Paper, the world’s largest forest products maker, earned $203m in the 10 months following the invasion from a Siberian business it co-owns with two Putin allies. Though it has recently announced a deal to sell its stake, for a paper loss, it has yet to be completed.
The Memphis-registered pulp and paper giant’s Ilim Group, we found, had in the meantime continued to purchase timber from logging firms fined millions for rampant illegal logging.
Responding to our findings, Ukrainian activists again urged Washington to sanction Russian wood supplies, calling the continued profits we exposed “blood money”.
SOURCE: Earthsight is a non-profit organisation that uses in-depth investigations to expose environmental and social crime, injustice and the links to global consumption.