“Amendments to EUDR could harm EU efforts to block Russian and Belarusian ‘conflict timber’”

In mid-2022, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU imposed sanctions on wood products from Russia and Belarus. These sanctions reflect the importance of the forestry sector to the Russian and Belarusian economies, and that the Russian military profits directly from timber sales. Russia’s timber business is also connected to oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin – including some sanctioned by the EU.

In January 2025, our Blood-stained birch investigation revealed that the EU had imported more than €1.5 billion of illegal Russian and Belarusian birch plywood since these sanctions took effect…

Imports of conflict ply have continued since Earthsight’s last calculations, which were based on data until October 2024. New analysis shows that in the six months from November 2024 to April 2025, the EU has imported a further €273 million worth…

Earthsight’s analysis, based on in-depth investigations into the illegal wood trade, shows that if the European Commission were to introduce a ‘no-risk’ category into the law, it would not only open the EU to more illegal timber, it would also hinder the implementation of EU sanctions on Russian and Belarusian wood…