English | French | Home

Legal Background

Legal Background Overview of current Russian Forestry legislation, January 2004
SOURCE: BROC

INTRODUCTION:

Observing the existing Russian forest legislation, we should notice some peculiarities:

  • There is a huge number of bylaws, regulations and orders, both federal and regional. Many of these were enacted in the Soviet period, and even specialists in forestry legislation have difficulties in applying some aspects of the legislation.
  • Some forestry rules contradict environmental, water and land legislation and sometimes each other.

See: Russian Federation Forests Code

According to the Constitution, forestry legislation in the Russian Federation (RF) is the subject of shared jurisdiction between the RF and administrative territories. The forest stock of Russia is a subject of federal property. So any use of the forest resources is regulated by federal legislation. The main forestry law is the "Forest Code of the Russian Federation" , approved in 1997 and currently valid over the whole country. Actual forestry operations are regulated by the "Rules of Harvesting Timber" which are specific to each of the six Federal Regions. This division is based upon the characteristics of forests in the different areas. "Rules of Harvesting Timber in the Far East Forests" were approved by the Federal Forest Service on July 30, 1993, with subsequent amendments.

Intermediate cuts are regulated by the "Directions for maintenance logging in the Far East Forests" approved by the Federal Forest Service, November 29, 1993 or by the specific regulations for each other federal district. Burnt forests are harvested in accordance with the "Sanitation rules in the Forests of the Russian Federation" approved by the Federal Forest Service, December 11, 1993. There are also regulations concerning the harvest of non-timber forest products, such as honey, mushrooms, etc.

"Regulations for the Lease of Lots of the Forest Stock" (Governmental Decree # 345, March 24, 1998) define the procedure for leasing out the forest stock. Forest bidding procedures (auctions and tenders) are detailed in "Regulations for procedure of organization of forest auctions" and "Regulations for procedure of organization of forest tenders" approved by the Federal Forest Service.

Regulatory institutions for forest use, conservation and protection of the forest estate and reforestation.
I. Federal level
Most governmental functions in forest management are implemented by the authorized federal agency - the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and, specifically, its Forest Service. On administrative territories, that authority belongs to its regional agencies, or forest services. Leskozi (forest administrations) are municipal organs, directly subordinate to the regional services. The Leskozi realize conservation and protection of forest stock and arrange forest deals including the delivery of logging permits.
II. Territorial level
Institutions regulating forest management in administrative territories are similar to the federal level. There are also special departments responsible for forestry and the protection of natural resources inside regional governments, which may be named and organized differently in the different territories.

Sharing responsibility between federal and regional authorities

  • The annual allowable cut (AAC) is determined initially by each leskhoz, summarized by the territorial forest service and adopted by the Federal Forest Service. Each territorial government, together with the Forest Service, shares out the practical annual limit of forest stock among forest users.
  • The minimum level of stumpage fees is established by the federal government, while the actual regional level is established by each regional government.

Legal base for forest use

As the forest stock is state property, mortgage and other transactions that could entail the alienation of parts of the forest stock, or of forest plots outside the forest stock, are prohibited. Forest plots are available to citizens and organizations by the following arrangements: lease, gratuitous use, concession, and short-term use. Gratuitous and short-term uses are for forests outside of state forest stock.
The nature of these arrangements is determined by the Forest, Civil and Land Codes.

Lease

Leases can be awarded for a period from one to forty-nine years. The lease agreement is signed by the Leskhoz (lessor) and the forest user (lessee). The forest products obtained under the forest lease become the property of the lessee. The sublease of a forest plot is prohibited. The lease agreement should be registered by the specially authorized state agency and is valid from the time of registration. According to the Forest Code, a forest lease may be awarded and operated either by the territorial government in accordance with the local department of the ministry of natural resource (MNR) and municipal authority (for a period of not more than 5 years), or by the bidding procedure. Public awareness is obligatory.

Gratuitous Use

Gratuitous Use is provided by a contract between the leskhoz and the forest user for up to forty-nine years for single or multiple forest use. It is also valid by decision of territorial government in accordance with the local department of MNR.

Concession

A concession is very similar to a lease. The only difference is that the area of a concession is, usually, an undeveloped roadless area requiring significant investment.

Short-term Use

Short-term use is available for a period of up to one year, and is awarded by forest auction or on the basis of decisions by the territorial government. This model is aimed at meeting mainly municipal needs.

Who can be a user?

Users of forest plots are certified citizens and legal entities. They should have special rights for forest use, which are granted by the leskhoz: a logging permit, an order or a forest ticket. The grounds for a logging permit are a contract, awarded as a result of a bidding process or a decision of the territorial administration. Logging permits are issued annually by leskhozes and specify strictly available species, sort, volume, period and forest plot for logging.

The concession contract should contain descriptions of the boundaries of the forest plot, types of forest use, available volume, concession period, duties of conservation for the forest user, the rules of sharing extracted products, rules of stumpage fee assessment and other duties. Infrastructure development is the investor's responsibility.