The forestry sector remains a powerful driver of Ukraine’s economic development – Viktor Smal

The extended board meeting of the State Forest Resources Agency reviewed the performance results of the forestry sector for the first nine months of 2025.

«These are not yet the final annual results, but only interim outcomes for nine months. However, the overall picture is already clear: the forestry sector’s indicators show steady growth, demonstrating the effectiveness of our team’s work at all levels», - said Head of the State Forest Resources Agency Viktor Smal.

Among the achievements:

• profitability – 23.3%;
• net profit – over UAH 5.1 billion;
• taxes and mandatory payments – over UAH 12 billion;
• funding for forestry operations – over UAH 7.5 billion;
• capital investments – nearly UAH 630 million;
• average salary – UAH 28.6 thousand.

«This only reflects our direct economic activities, but our work extends to other areas where we have also achieved significant results», - he emphasized.

In particular, thanks to strengthened international cooperation, the value of projects attracted from international partners for sector development exceeded €25 million. These projects focus on digitalization, forest monitoring, the implementation of close-to-nature forestry, scientific development, and harmonization of the regulatory framework with EU requirements.

Additionally, property rights have already been formalized for 28,000 hectares of previously unallocated forest lands in Ukraine. This is a substantial area of forests that have finally received proper management. There has also been notable progress in transferring naturally regenerated forests to permanent forest users.

Furthermore, active preparation continues for the introduction of European forest management methods, which will be implemented in the mountain forests of the Carpathian region starting in May 2027. A total of 256 employees of SE «Forests of Ukraine» have completed a training course as part of a large-scale program initiated by the State Forest Resources Agency on close-to-nature forestry principles.

«I thank the entire team of the State Forest Resources Agency for the joint systematic work. Together, we will continue working to achieve even more significant results», - Viktor Smal concluded.