Exchange Window of Opportunity: Evgeny Rozhentsev on trade in timber products, BUTB and the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange

Evgeny Rozhentsev is the director of "Lesnoresurs", broker of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BOOTB) and the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, a specialist with 26 years of experience in the forestry industry.

    In the interview, he talked about the role of a professional broker in the exchange trading of timber products, the differences between Russian and Belarusian trading platforms, transit transactions, attracting foreign buyers and using price indices when working with lumber.

The main points of the interview:

• The broker accompanies the transaction from the application to the closing documents and controls parameters such as breed, grade, size, humidity, logistics and calculations.;
• exchange trading should provide specific practical benefits — new counterparties, transparent pricing and risk reduction;
• Transit transactions are already used in the organization of purchases of timber products for Tajik enterprises, however, transactions in which both parties are non-residents of Belarus have not yet reached the planned scale.;
• An exchange price index is a benchmark for the market, but it does not replace the price of a specific product.

    According to the expert, a single digital window, a predictable trading calendar, ready-made logistics routes and general analytics are important for the further development of exchange trading.

"Transparent pricing, clear logistics and uniform rules are the three conditions under which a business will choose an exchange on its own."

Question 1. What is the main value of working through a broker?

Evgeny Vasilyevich, as a broker you act as a link between suppliers and buyers of timber products. In your opinion, what is the main value of working on the stock exchange through a professional participant: is it access to new markets, simplification of procedures, risk reduction or something else? 

    I think the main value lies in the combination of all these possibilities. A professional participant does not just provide technical access to trades. It helps the client go through the entire transaction process: understand the rules of the site, correctly form an application, determine the market price level, find a counterparty, agree on essential terms and control execution.

    This is especially important for the forestry industry, because it is not enough to compare only the product name and price. It is necessary to take into account the breed, grade, size, humidity, supply basis, logistics, shipping schedule and document requirements. An error in one of these parameters can negate the benefits of the transaction.

    Therefore, I see the role of a broker in connecting the exchange's capabilities with the client's real production and commercial tasks.

    As a result, the company receives not only a new sales or purchase channel, but also a more transparent, understandable and manageable transaction. For new participants, it is also an opportunity to enter the market faster, without making many mistakes that are inevitable when learning exchange procedures on their own.

"I see the role of a broker as connecting the exchange's capabilities with the client's real-world goals."

Question 2. BOOTB and the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange: what is the difference?

Your company simultaneously cooperates with the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange and the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange. What are the specifics of the Belarusian site compared to the Russian one in terms of procedures, customer base, and liquidity? How is it possible to combine work on two major national platforms? 

    Each site has its own strong point. The St. Petersburg Stock Exchange primarily provides access to the large-scale Russian market and a significant volume of domestic supply. In the forestry segment, there is a stable practice of selling products from state forestry enterprises and the work of Russian industrial buyers.

    The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange is noticeably focused on foreign trade. Its important advantage is well–established interaction with non-residents, uniform trading rules and a number of risk minimization mechanisms. For a foreign client, this is an understandable scheme of work, when the exchange itself acts as a guarantor of compliance with established procedures.

    In terms of liquidity, it is more correct to compare not the sites as a whole, but specific product lines, supply bases and the composition of participants. The Russian domestic market is deeper somewhere, and the BOOTB provides more direct access to Belarusian manufacturers and foreign buyers.

    A single approach allows us to combine work: we do not start with the choice of an exchange, but with the client's task. We look at where the right product is available, the necessary geography, the appropriate transaction mechanism and real counter liquidity. After that, we offer a platform and a format that give the best practical result.

"We don't start with choosing an exchange, but with the client's task."

Question 3. Has it been possible to implement transit transactions?

When you first accredited at the BOOTB, one of the key mechanisms that you planned to use was transit transactions, when both the seller and the buyer are non-residents of Belarus. Did you succeed in carrying out your plan?

    We have launched an international direction and are already using the capabilities of the BOOTB in organizing wood purchases for enterprises from Tajikistan. At the same time, it is the classic transit transactions, where both sides are non-residents of Belarus, that have not yet received the scale we expected during accreditation.

    The reason is not the mechanism itself – it is in demand and promising. It's just that in practice, such a chain needs to be assembled simultaneously in several directions: to find a suitable seller and buyer, to agree on product specifications, payment terms, logistics, export documents and an acceptable supply basis.

    In the forestry industry, even if the price is the same, the parties may not agree on size, humidity, quality, or shipping schedule.

    Therefore, I would say this: our plans have been partially implemented, the necessary experience and working contacts have already been accumulated, but the main potential of transit trade is still ahead. We continue to form such chains through our international base of participants and consider BOOTB as one of the key platforms for their implementation.

"The main potential of transit trade is still ahead. We continue to form these chains."

Question 4. How to attract clients to stock trading?

On your Forest Resource trading portal.More than 25,000 enterprises from 150 countries are registered in the Russian Federation. Does this facilitate the search for clients in the framework of brokerage activities on BOOTB? In general, please tell us how you attract customers. Is it difficult to convince Russian or foreign companies to trade through an exchange rather than through direct contracts? 

    Yes, the portal helps a lot. Over the years, a professional community of manufacturers, buyers, carriers and suppliers of equipment has formed around him.

    We see who offers what products and what positions buyers are looking for, in which regions there is demand and where a new offer appears. This allows you not to wait for a random request, but to connect potential participants of the transaction point-by-point.

    We attract clients through ads and portal services, direct work with registered companies, industry contacts, recommendations, supply and demand analytics, as well as participation in commodity exchanges and professional associations.

    The portal itself acts as a wide showcase, and brokerage support turns the found interest into a specific deal.

    It takes convincing, especially if the company has been operating under direct contracts for many years. The exchange is sometimes perceived as an additional procedure.

    Therefore, we do not offer it as a formality and do not claim that it is absolutely necessary for every transaction. We show concrete benefits: access to new counterparties, transparent pricing, uniform rules, and reduced risk of default.

    When the client sees not abstract advantages, but a solution to his problem, the attitude towards the exchange format changes.

"When a client sees not abstract advantages, but a solution to his task, the attitude towards the exchange changes."

Question 5. How does the exchange mechanism help the buyer?

Give some illustrative example from practice, when the exchange mechanism gave the client a tangible advantage over a direct contract. 

    Probably one of the most striking examples is the organization of purchases of timber products for enterprises from Tajikistan.

    When searching directly, the buyer is faced with disparate offers, differences in specifications, and the need to check each supplier separately.

    The use of the BOOTB provides uniform rules, standardizes the procedure and increases confidence in the transaction. For a foreign company, the advantage is expressed not only in the price: it gets a more understandable order of interaction and the opportunity to work with suppliers through an organized market.

"A foreign company gets a clear procedure for interaction and works with suppliers through an organized market."

Question 6. How to use stock price indexes?

Since 2025, stock price indices, including for lumber, have been published on the BOOTB website. How do you apply this information when making deals? Does it allow you to keep abreast of the market?

    Yes, indexes allow you to see the direction of the market and give participants a common reference point.

    We use them when preparing the client for bidding, estimating the starting price and discussing the terms of the transaction. The dynamics of the index is especially useful: it shows whether the market level is changing and to what extent the expectations of the seller or buyer correspond to the actual concluded exchange transactions.

    At the same time, the index cannot be perceived as a ready-made price list. The final price of lumber depends on the breed, grade, cross-section, length, humidity, batch volume, payment terms and delivery basis.

    Therefore, we compare the index with the characteristics of a particular product, logistics, and the situation in the desired region.

    The value of the indicator directly depends on the volume and quality of the source data. The more participants and transactions are reflected in the calculation, the more accurately the market sees the real picture.

    Therefore, further development of indexes, expansion of product groups and accumulation of statistics will be useful for both sellers and buyers.

"The index is not a ready—made price list. The more participants there are in the calculation, the more accurately the market sees the real picture."

The exchange as an additional tool for the forestry business

    It follows from the expert's answers that stock trading for the timber industry is not limited only to finding a better price. Complex issues come to the fore: finding a counterparty, checking product parameters, organizing logistics, following procedures, and reducing commercial risks.

    At the same time, different scenarios for the use of exchange platforms remain for the Russian market — domestic purchases and sales, exports, work with foreign buyers and transit operations.

    The development of price indices is of particular importance. They allow market participants to gain additional guidance during negotiations and preparation for bidding, but the final price is still determined by the characteristics of a particular batch, delivery conditions and logistics.

"Transparent pricing, clear logistics and uniform rules are the three conditions under which a business will choose an exchange on its own." 

Tags: #BOOTB #St. Petersburg Stock Exchange #Stock Trading #Timber products #Forest Market #Forestry Industry #LPC #Lumber #Exports of Wood products #Exchange Indexes #Prices of Lumber #Forest Resources #Broker #Commodity Broker #Timber Trade #Timber Exports #Tajikistan #Belarus #Russia #Timber Market

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