HELSINKI, November 23 (RIA Novosti, Olga Andrianova) - A recent study by the European Forest Institute (EFI) found that illegal logging in Russia, which is home to the world's largest forest resources, distorts Europe's roundwood markets as well as its own, resulting in the loss of millions of euros every year.
According to the EFI study, Russia lost an estimated 170 million euros as a result of lower roundwood market prices in 2002, with 10%-15% of the Russian wood bound for European markets believed to have been illegally felled.
Illegal logging activities could be lowering the current market price of roundwood by 5% to 10% on both Russian and EU markets and, thus, reducing the income possibilities for forest owners and logging and transportation operators, the EFI study said.
