Mar 13, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. The government plans to increase export duties on unprocessed timber and speed up road construction to modernize its forestry industry, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Belousov said. Russia, whose 83 billion cubic meters of wood account for nearly one-quarter of the world's supplies, imports one-third of its timber-derived products, Belousov said. Unprocessed timber accounts for about half of Russian wood exports he said. "We understand very well that just increasing duties cannot solve the problem," Belousov told reporters. The government also plans to increase road construction in cooperation with private investors to ease access to forests and to crack down on illegal logging, he said. The government raised export duties for unprocessed timber last July to shore up domestic production and will raise the tariffs again to 25% of the value of timber products on April 1. Another increase to as much as 80% is planned for January 2009, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry said. "The duties have already contributed to a considerable drop in timber imports from Russia to the Nordic region," Andreas Zsiga, a credit analyst with Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, said Wednesday. The planned January increase "will probably put a complete end to Nordic imports, as Russian wood will be simply unaffordable," Zsiga said. Countries including Finland and Sweden have urged the European Union to press Russia on the issue, saying the country was reneging on promises not to raise the duties agreed during World Trade Organization negotiations.