More than €1.5 billion worth of Russian timber has been smuggled into the European Union since June 2022, with all 27 states implicated in a ‘blood trade’ that has led to 500,000 cubic metres entering Europe and making a mockery of war sanctions. That is, according to a new report published by UK-based ENGO Earthsight, revealing that more than 20 lorry loads of birch ply—or about 700 cubic metres— are flooding ports via friendly third-party actors (including China, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Georgia).
“Profit-hungry smugglers find it all too easy to launder plywood through third countries and into Europe via soft entry points,” according to Tara Ganesh, Earthsight’s head of timber and sanctions.
“It’s so easy that as much as a fifth of all the birch ply on sale in Europe today is thought to be illegal Russian blood timber.”
The investigation, Blood-stained Birch: Exposing the EU Trade in Russian Conflict Ply, caught European companies on camera, in voice calls, and through internal documents arranging a steady flow of Russian plywood into the EU: “These companies sell their illegal wood across the continent, and their customers include important manufacturers of climbing walls, toys, flooring, furniture, and other products,” Earthsight alleges.
Over a nine-month period, Earthsight’s crack investigative team recorded traders posing as buyers admitting the practice was illegal, calling it a “gold mine” and suggesting techniques to avoid detection.
Of the 27 EU members, the largest volumes come through Poland (current president of the EU), Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Estonia: “Seven of the top ten Russian birch ply exporters are still supplying the EU,” Earthsight said, with two of these companies linked to oligarchs that met with Putin on the day Russia invaded Ukraine. “One, Alexei Mordashov, is on the EU’s sanctions list, whilst the other, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, is the main shareholder of Russia’s largest logging firm.”
“The imports are now at some of the highest levels ever seen,” Earthsight warned in a media release supporting the report’s publication,” with the EU showing little appetite to address the problem: “Since early 2023, Earthlight has been sharing its findings with authorities but has received little response. Enforcement has remained sporadic and is insufficient to deter illegal imports, with the trade now booming.”
“Brussels shares the blame for failing to coordinate national enforcement,” Earthsight said. In addition, current sanctions must be amended to include goods made with Russian timber in third countries, closing loopholes and thus making enforcement much more manageable.
According to the report, Russia—whose military now controls and profits from forests covering an area 1.5 times the size of Belgium—has successfully exploited loopholes in timber supply chains. “Several EU firms admitted buying illegal Russian plywood in covert recordings,” they said. “(And) although these firms are traders, selling ply to others, the investigation names several prominent EU customers of firms that admit to laundering plywood.”
“One such customer is the world’s largest manufacturer of artificial climbing walls and supplier for qualifying rounds for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Bulgarian firm Walltopia. Another customer is Estonian firm Technomar and Adrem, which supplies flooring to the Radisson, Hilton and Marriott hotel chains.” Others include Werxal in Poland, which supplies furniture retailer Black Red White, and a Bulgarian toy manufacturer Komfort, which supplies Europe’s largest toy companies.
- To learn more about the shadow trade in Russian lumber, and why Poland is ground zero for Russian and Belarussian timber circumventing sanctions and entering the European Union, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
