Russian Forestry and Wood Supply Operations Analysis
S
VOLGA FEDERAL DISTRICT
KIROV OBLAST
Kirov Oblast:
a Land of Go-Getters
According to experts, including those withglobal knowledge, the economy of Kirov Oblast is well-balanced
and stable, which, in spite of the poor quality of roads in the region, has considerable investment potential.
The Kirov Oblast is a part of the Volga Federal
District and belongs to the Volga-Vyatka Economic
Region. The region is 120,400 sq.m, and its
population is 1,319,100, of whom 96% are Russians.
The capital city is Kirov, with a population of
502,600, located 896 km east of Moscow. In all,
there are 39 municipal districts, six cities under
oblast jurisdiction, 273 villages, and 53 urban-
type settlements.
Large-scale forest enterprises
of the Kirov Oblast
Demjanovskiye Manufaktury, O00
DOK, OOO
Severdomstroj, 000
Krasnyi Yakor, AO
Almis, PKP, O00
Brevenburg, GK
Craft, MF
Lesnoy Profile LPK, OAO
North West Forest Company, 000
Novovyatsky Sky Plant, OOO
PerspektivaLes, LPK
Vyatka EvroLes, 000
Vyatka Plywood Plant, 000
Vyatsky Dom, 000
Bimma-Decor, OOO
Yaransklesprom, ZAO
Domostroitel, OAO
GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
The region has a hilly relief. Most of the region is
taken up by the Vyatka River basin, a tributary of
the Kama River in Tatarstan. All in all, there are
almost 20,000 rivers totalling more than 66,000
km in length in the Kirov Oblast.
The climate is continental, with a long, cold, snowy
winter (lasting 4.5 months on the average) and
Velikiy Usturg
a mild summer. In January, the temperature
varies between -12 and -15 °C. In autumn and
winter the Kirov Oblast is under the influence
of cyclones coming from the Atlantic Ocean and
the Mediterranean Sea and causing considerable
cloudiness, frequent snowfalls and windy weather.
Cyclones often alternate with arctic air masses
that form anticyclones with frosty, windless and
clear weather.
ARKHANGESKOBLAST
O Lal'sk
REPUBLIC
Demyanovo Settlement of KOMI
VOLOGDA
OBLAST
Luza
O
Oparino
Ο
Bezbozhnik Settlement
Murashi
Vyatka
Belaya Kholunitsa
P-166
Slobodskoy
●Kirovo-Chepetsk
Zuyevka
Vetluga
Muryging
KOSTROMA
OBLAST
KIROV
Sharya
Leninskoye
Kotel'nich
NIZHEGORODSKAYA
OBLAST
VOLGA
P-159
Sovetsk
Nolinsk
Yaransk
Urzhum
O
●Loyno
Kirs
Omutninsk
KAMA
Cheptsa
PERM KRAI
REPUBLIC
OF UDMURTIA
YOSHKAR-OLA
REPUBLIC OF MARIEL
CHEBOSARY
Kil'mez'
Malmyzh
Krasnaya Polyana
REPUBLIC Sosnovka
Sof TATARSTAN
IZHEVSK
July is the warmest month of the year, with
temperatures ranging from +17 to +19 °C. The
average annual precipitation in the region is 500
mm; in the north-west this figure is somewhat
higher.
ECONOMY
According to experts, the Kirov Oblast has a well-
balanced economy at this time. There have not
been any fundamental changes in the structure of
the gross regional product (GRP) for many years.
Industry is the largest sector, accounting for
about 30.7% of the GRP. The key industries of the
Kirov Oblast are engineering and metalworking,
chemicals and petrochemicals, woodworking,
pulp and paper, food processing, and electric
power. These account for 84% of the industrial
production. Agriculture, hunting and forestry
account for 9.3% of GRP, construction accounts
for 4.1%; transportation and telecommunications
10.9%; wholesale and retail trade, repairs of
motor vehicles, motorcycles, domestic and
personal appliances 14.5%; and other activities
30.5%.
The stability of the situation of the region's
economy is confirmed by international ratings such
as Fitch Ratings which has assigned a long-term
rating with a "stable" outlook to the Kirov Oblast.
The strategy of the social and economic
development of the Kirov Oblast until 2020
names the development of the timber industry
and agriculture as the main priorities. In addition,
it is expected that a high emphasis will be
placed on the development of building materials
manufacture and of the chemical sector based on
developing phosphate deposits. The authorities of
the region also intend to concentrate their efforts
on creating a biochemical and pharmaceutical
cluster.
TRANSPORT
The length of the region's railways totals 2,200 km,
and the base passenger line of the Trans-Siberian
Railway passes through the territory. In addition,
the development of peat extraction in the region
in the late 1920sentailed the construction of
narrow gauge railways, many of which are still
used.
The total length of motor roads is 24,100 km,
however, no more than 10,000 km of them
are hard-surfaced roads. Therefore, during the
autmumn and spring many roads even between
big regional cities become impassable. New
paved roads are being built in the region, and
the problem of road quality is being gradually
addressed.
The total length of waterways is 1,800 km, with
the Vyatka River being the main route. There
are also air links.
RESOURCES
In Soviet times, the Kirov Oblast was one of the
biggest fur processing centers in the USSR. These
days almost all species of commercial fur-bearing
animals in Russia are hunted and bred in the
Kirov Oblast.
The Kirov Oblast is also considered to be the
peat capital of Russia. The estimated commercial
reserves of peat are 378.3 million tons with 484
commercially significant deposits over 10 ha in
area accounting formore than 50% of all peat
extracted in the Russian Federation. The region
can also be considered the phosphate capital of
the country. According to the administration of
the Kirov Oblast, Europe's largest Vyatka-Kama
phosphate rock deposit lies within the boundaries
of the region. In-place reserves of phosphate rock
amount to 2 billion tons, or 45% of all reserves
in Russia.
In addition, the Oblast has reserves of glassmaking
sands, sand and gravel mixes, clay, building stone,
and cement raw materials.
FORESTRY
By volumes of logging and woodworking, the
region is among the major forest-industrial
complexes in the European part of Russia and
is the leader in the Volga Federal District. The
region is the 19th largest in the country in terms
of timber resources, and eighth largest in timber
hauling.
According to the Forestry Department of the Kirov
Oblast, 63.2% of its area is covered with forest, or
slightly over 8 million ha, with 5.4 million ha of
woods fit for use. Total timber resources amount
to over 1.2 billion cu.m.
Commercial forests account for 6,498,900 ha (80%)
of the resource, while shelter forests account for
1,624,000 ha (20%). According to the Kirov Oblast
Forestry Development Concept for 2010-2015, the
average age of forests in the region is 58 years.
The average merchantability class of mature stands
and overmature woods in the commercial reserves
by wood species is 1-2 for pine, 2-3 for fir, 2-3
for birch, and 3-4 for aspen. The largest area in
coniferous forests is occupied by stands with a
predominance of fir (56% of the total area), while
pine forest stands account for 44%.
The share of softwood in the total timber reserves
in the forest stands is about 56%.
The annual allowable volume of timber harvesting
(rated wood cutting) is estimated in the Kirov
Oblast at 17,046,300 cu. m, almost 8 million cu.
m of this in the softwood reserves.
The main use of forests in the region is logging
for industrial production and for the needs of the
population. Eight-hundred and fifty-six contracts
lease 5,723,100 ha (71.2% of the total area of the
forest resources lands)with the annual possible
logging volume of 13 million m³ (78.6% of the
total rated wood cutting).
As in most Russian regions, forest management
data in the Kirov Oblast are very outdated. The
last time data collection was carried out in the
region on a wide scale was in 1997-2003. Even five
years ago, while preparing the Kirov Oblast Forestry
Development Concept for the years 2010-2015,
experts noted that on 66% of total forestry lands,
the last forest management work was carried out
more than ten years ago. The situation with lands
transferred to forestry from agricultural use is even
sadder: the last survey on 85% of the lands was
carried out 25 or more years ago, and the legal
term of validity is ten years. As yet this cannot be
addressed because funds from the federal budget
allocated to the region for forest surveying are
clearly not enough. At the same time, the region
cannot afford to spend its own funds to survey
federally owned forests. The lack of accurate forest
survey data influences forest-resource planning in
implementing priority investment projects and
when forest lots are put up for auction.
However, reforestation targets have been
outstripped in the Kirov Oblast. Thus, in 2013
forest regeneration work was undertaken on
an area of 27,271 ha with the year's target of
26,699 ha, i.e. the target was exceeded by 102%.
Forest crops were planted on an area of 6,500 ha.
Forest lot lessees procure seeds of forest plants
and softwood seedlings are supplied to adjacent
regions, i.e. the Perm Krai, the Vologda Oblast,
the Kostroma Oblast, and the Republic of Komi.
The Kirov Oblast may also become one of the pilot
regions in Russia where forest regeneration will
use cloned planting stock.
The underdeveloped network of forest roads
and hauling tracks hinders full-fledged forest
Investment Projects Planned for Implementation in the Kirov Oblast
- "Efficient Use of Forests in the Luza District of the Kirov Oblast." The investor is LLC Luza-
Viled; the total volume of forest use is 129,500 cu. m. The application has been approved by the
Government of the Kirov Oblast and by the Federal Forestry Agency.
- "Founding an Enterprise for the Production of Wood-Polymer Composites on the Basis of the
Raw Materials Base of the Omutninsk Forestry." The investor is Lesnaya Kompaniya LLC; the total
volume of forest use is 75,000 cu. m. The application has been approved by the Government of the
Kirov Oblast and by the Federal Forestry Agency.
- "Retrofitting of the Lumber Factory of PKP Almis LLC." The investor is PKP Almis LLC; the total
volume of forest use is 512,820 cu. m. The application has been approved by the Government of
the Kirov Oblast and by the Federal Forestry Agency.
-
"Setting Up an Added-Value Wood Processing Facility by Partner LLC." The investor is Partner
LLC; the total volume of forest use is 169,400 cu. m. The application is under review by the
Government of the Kirov Oblast.
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#6 (2015) RUSSIAN
FORESTRY
RUSSIAN #6 (2015)
FORESTRY
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