Rosleskhoz cancelled 67 regional acts with violations

Rosleskhoz cancelled 67 regional acts with violations: the quality of documents in the forestry industry leaves much to be desired

    The Federal Forestry Agency summed up the results of the legal examination of regional sectoral documents for 2025. The results of the inspections demonstrate systemic problems in the rule-making activities of regional forest departments: 67 legal acts adopted in violation of forest legislation have been repealed. The largest number of claims is related to the expertise of forest development projects and procedures for the formation of forest plots.

The main source of violations is forest development projects

    According to the Federal Forestry Agency, the bulk of the violations identified (52 documents out of 67) relate to the approval of the conclusions of the state expertise of forest development projects. This is a critically important stage that determines the legality and validity of the use of forest plots by tenants.

"Rosleskhoz carefully checks the regional industry documents received as part of the legal expertise. Legal acts issued in violation of forest legislation are cancelled"
— Elena Borodavkina, Head of the Department of Legal Support and Use of Forests of the Federal Forestry Agency

    Experts note that errors in approving the expertise of forest development projects can have serious consequences for tenants. In case of cancellation of the regional act, forest users risk being left without legal grounds for harvesting timber or other types of activities on leased land.

Systemic errors in the formation of forest plots

    In addition to problems with the examination of projects, the federal government has identified systemic violations in the procedures for the formation of forest plots:

• - Incorrect documentation: In some cases, the sites were designed on the basis of a scheme rather than legally prescribed design documentation. This practice contradicts the requirements of the Forest Code and may lead to contesting the boundaries of the sites in the future.
• - Violation of integrity: The facts of the formation of plots from non-adjacent forest blocks or parts of allotments have been recorded, which also does not meet the established requirements. This creates risks for cadastral registration and subsequent use of such sites.
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The structure of the cancelled regional acts:

Recommendations and forecast: it's time for regions to strengthen control

    The Federal Forestry Agency called on the regional forestry departments to take seriously the quality of the preparation of industry documents. Elena Borodavkina recommended:

"Regional forestry agencies should more closely monitor the compliance of their industry documents with the provisions of current legislation. This will avoid mistakes and, consequently, cancellations of legal acts" — Elena Borodavkina

    The Agency also pointed out the need to strengthen internal control over the quality of document preparation in order to minimize the number of violations in the future.

Importance for forest users and businesses

    For tenants of forest plots and representatives of the forestry business, the results of the Rosleskhoz's legal expertise are of practical importance.:

1. - Increased risks of revision: Regional acts regulating the use of forests may be repealed if they initially contained violations. This creates uncertainty for businesses, especially in long-term investment projects.
2. - The need for due diligence: When concluding lease agreements or acquiring forest plots, it is advisable to check not only the contract itself, but also the regional acts on the basis of which it was concluded.
3. - The trend towards stricter control: Rosleskhoz consistently strengthens control over the quality of regional rulemaking. It can be expected that the number of inspections and cancelled acts will remain high until the regions establish an internal control system.
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Key findings for the global market:

    The cancellation of 67 regional legal acts with violations is a signal for both regional authorities and businesses. The first step is to dramatically improve the quality of legal document processing. The second is to take into account the increased risks of challenging regional decisions and pay more attention to the legal purity of their relations with forest areas. Strengthening federal control in this area will contribute to improving the legal framework of the forestry industry, but during the transition period it may create additional difficulties for conscientious forest users.

Tags: #Forestry #forestry law #regional government agencies #legal expertise #forest development projects #forestry stages #control