Despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has continued to purchase “large quantities” of birch plywood originating from Russian forests, according to an analysis of shipping records by Earthsight, a non-profit organization that investigates environmental and social crime and injustice.
Segezha, a major Russian logging company owned by Evgeny Yevtushenkov, an oligarch with close ties to President Putin, exported 1,374 cubic meters of plywood to the U.S. in June. The largest importer of the Segezha’s plywood was Georgia-based PG Wood Imports, which received approximately 6,000 cubic meters of Russian plywood in the six weeks to Aug. 10, according to Earthsight.
The analysis also showed Segezha has begun plundering Taiga forest, an ancient forest the size of Connecticut that the company had previously vowed to protect.
Ukraine has called on countries to ban Russian plywood and timber, among other goods, in order to stifle funding for the war. Yehor Hyrnk, a Ukrainian environmental activist, told Earthsight that the U.S. and other importers of Russian lumber products “have blood on their hands.”
“This scandalous trade must stop at once,” Hyrnk said.
