A UK-based nonprofit investigative organization, Earthsight, which specializes in exposing environmental and social crimes, has uncovered a large-scale illicit trade in Russian birch plywood flowing into the European Union (EU) despite war-related sanctions. More than 500,000 m3 of illegal Russian birch plywood, valued at over Euro 1.5 billion, has entered the EU through third countries such as China, Kazakhstan, and Turkey since July 2022, according to Earthsight.
Investigators recorded firms admitting to bypassing sanctions, referring to the trade as a "gold mine" and offering techniques to evade detection. Currently, over 700 m3 of birch plywood arrives in the EU daily, equivalent to 20 full trucks or containers. All 27 EU member states have received likely illegal Russian plywood, with Poland importing the largest volume, followed by Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Estonia.
Seven of the ten largest Russian birch plywood exporters are still supplying the EU, Earthsight found. Two of these firms are linked to Russian oligarchs who met with Vladimir Putin on the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One of them, Alexei Mordashov, heads Sveza, the world's largest manufacturer of birch plywood, and is on the EU sanctions list. The other, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, is the primary shareholder of Segezha, Russia's largest forest based firm. Both men attempted to bypass sanctions by shifting company ownership to proxies or relatives while remaining the largest stakeholders. Belarusian state-owned companies have also been involved in facilitating illegal birch plywood exports.
According to Earthsight’s findings, birch plywood is a critical revenue source for the Russian economy, with all forests being state-owned. The organization alleges that the Russian military directly controls forests covering an area more than one and a half times the size of Belgium. Since sanctions were imposed, Russian exporters have allegedly laundered birch plywood shipments through third countries, particularly China, Kazakhstan, and Turkey, to avoid detection. Earthsight states that trade data and customs records indicate the business is booming. Image: Earthsight
Several EU firms admitted in covert recordings to purchasing illegal Russian birch plywood. These include traders reselling to manufacturers, as well as direct buyers such as Walltopia, the world’s largest manufacturer of climbing walls, which supplied the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification rounds. Other customers include Estonian flooring supplier Technomar and Adrem, which provides flooring to major hotel chains such as Radisson, Hilton, and Marriott.
Additional implicated firms include Polish furniture supplier Wersal, which supplies Black Red White, Bulgaria’s Komfort, which claims to supply major European toy companies, Spanish wholesaler Forest Trafic, and Italian flooring firm Castellana Legnami. Earthsight notes that while there is no evidence these companies knowingly violated sanctions, the findings suggest they should exercise greater caution in selecting suppliers.
Walltopia, Wersal, and Black Red White did not respond to Earthsight’s inquiries. Technomar and Adrem denied wrongdoing, stating that independent audits confirmed their birch plywood originated from Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Komfort and Castellana Legnami also denied any violations, while Forest Trafic emphasized that its due diligence system had been reviewed by Spanish authorities and international monitoring firm Bureau Veritas. Image: Earthsight
Earthsight has shared its findings with EU authorities since early 2023, but enforcement remains weak, allowing the illegal trade to thrive. The nonprofit is calling for stricter enforcement and a revision of EU timber sanctions to include all goods made with Russian wood, regardless of where they are processed.
"As much as a fifth of all birch plywood in Europe today is thought to be illegal Russian timber," said Earthsight’s timber and sanctions team lead, Tara Ganesh. "With the outlook for Ukraine looking bleak, Poland should use its current Presidency of the EU to end this blood-stained trade once and for all."
