First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said, in part:

I am pleased to welcome you to another meeting to discuss the lumber industry. For the first time today, we have medium- and small-sized businesses attending our meeting.

You and your colleagues raised several issues during the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Syktyvkar in September 2010. Most have been solved. They have developed procedures governing the reservation of forest plots allocated for priority investment projects. They have also specified rules for use, protection and reproduction of protective forests. They have also streamlined the leasing of forests for linear facilities, such as power transmission and communication lines, roads and pipelines.

Notably, the activities of the Council for Promoting the Forest Industry made it possible to develop a number of systemic solutions to make a more efficient use of the forest potential. They have approved the forest industry development strategy until 2020. They are taking measures to streamline customs and tariff regulations. They have also standardised terms and requirements governing the activities of prospective investors.

As a result, the lumber industry is showing steady growth rates. The industrial production index grew significantly in 2011 across thel industry. It exceeded 105.1% in the lumber and saw-milling industry and 110% in the furniture manufacturing industry.

Lumber processing is on the rise. According to forecasts, it will grow 3% compared with 2010 to reach a total of 63%.

Salaries in the industry were up 15% on average. The investment appeal of the lumber industry increased significantly.

Since the priority investment project facility was launched in 2008, over 150 billion roubles were invested in the industry. A total of about 100 investment projects worth of over 400 billion roubles are scheduled for implementation.

Today, we will discuss the progress of these projects, issues to be addressed and adjustments to the existing "rules of the game".

Based on the plan for implementing priority projects, they have scheduled the commissioning of five new production facilities before the year is out. We will see the launching of two of them – in the Irkutsk and Arkhangelsk regions – live during a video conference today. We plan to launch three more modern facilities before the end of 2011.

The implementation of these investment projects is indicative of the business community's growing interest in the lumber industry. This will help create new jobs, introduce waste-free production processes and improve the quality of life of employees.

At the same time, medium- and small-sized businesses should be used more extensively if we want to increase the output in the lumber industry. As of the end of 2010, only 5% of the total lumber output was produced by small enterprises. The number of small businesses has dropped by 800 over the past three years. However, foreign experience shows us that cooperation between large and small businesses is quite effective in the lumber industry. In this regard, I hereby instruct the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Opora Rossii public organisation to work out a set of legislative, organisational and financial measures to expand the operations of small- and medium-sized businesses.

These enterprises can be involved in the clean-up of forests damaged by fire, the use of low-grade source materials, and the manufacturing of innovative biofuels, such as pellets, briquettes and granules.

I suggest discussing these and other questions today and outlining solutions.

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During the video conference, Viktor Zubkov launched a sawmill operation in the village of Novaya Igirma in the Irkutsk Region and a lumber plant in the village of Bereznik, Ustyansk District of the Arkhangelsk Region. These projects are among the priority investment projects in the sphere of lumber operations. The investments total 5.5 billion roubles. Once these enterprises reach their design capacity, they will create almost 1,800 jobs and produce up to 700,000 cubic metres of lumber per year.