“How did the reform on the liquidation of forest farms take place and what will happen next?”, — write: www.epravda.com.ua
From 2025, the system of Soviet forest farms in Ukraine will finally disappear. And with her, I really believe, it will be possible to bury all her chronic defects – low quality management, corruption, mismanagement, lack of motivation, illegal logging.
The transformation of state forestry started in 2021. We started when more than 350 forest farms were under the control of the State Forestry Agency. Hundreds of poorly managed “Soviet” enterprises from the center that lived their own lives, enriching officials, businesses close to them, and local elites.
Through direct contracts, the directors sold wood to a select circle of close processors, bought premium company cars instead of fire engines, fictitiously shut down work performed by full-time farm workers on the FOPs of relatives, wrote off tons of fuel for non-working equipment. The system of forest farms was deeply permeated by corruption and a circular guarantee.
First, even before the start of the war, we enlarged the forest farms, more than halved their number. A significant part of the administrative apparatus was reduced, which made it possible to increase the manageability of the system and prepare it for the next stage – the joining of forest farms to the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
At the second stage, a single specialized enterprise was created in 2022. Forest farms turned into his branches, we forced them to work according to uniform rules, introduced a new, more effective control system, centralized purchases, unified the staffing schedule, etc.
Instead of losses, which were compensated for by state subsidies to forest farms, SE “Forests of Ukraine” has been generating more than UAH 3 billion in profit for the second year. Profitability increased from 3-4% to 15-17%.
But we can work even more efficiently – the hereditary shortcomings of the old system still make themselves felt from time to time, and the potential for growth of economic indicators is not exhausted.
That’s why this year “Forests of Ukraine” started a reorganization – we are finally liquidating the forest farms that have not been able to get rid of congenital defects.
In the process of reorganization, not three, but two levels of management remain. Without changes, the grassroots sector – forestry. And almost the entire functionality of the second link – branches (forest farms) – is transferred to regional offices.
Specialists in the protection and protection, reproduction, taxation (estimation) of forests, forestry, lawyers, financiers, human resources, etc., move from the forest farms to the corresponding divisions of the large regional office, which manages several regions.
In order to coordinate the work of forestry, superintendents of forestry are created (several per office), but they consist of only two people, who, unlike the directors of forestry farms, do not manage, but coordinate.
The first result of the reorganization: the “local manager” factor is removed. During the two years of the company’s operation, dozens of branch directors were dismissed. It seems that everyone had enough time to understand that there will be no more forest farms in the old days. But the management of forestry sometimes still continues to be guided not by practices that are uniform for all, but by their own “vision”.
Some directors again fall under the influence of local elites (security forces, businesses, officials). Constantly changing people is too long a way. Frequent change of managers leads to shifting of responsibilities and chaos. Instead of the dismissed director, the position is taken by the chief forester or the same director from another region, and all problems continue in a circle.
The new model solves the problem fundamentally. Subdivisions of regional offices will work within the framework of uniform rules and corporate culture. There will be more responsibility, it will be easier to exercise control, to understand why and where profitability is lost, the execution of tasks is slowed down, and wrong decisions are made knowingly or unknowingly. Now it is not the forest farms, but the regional offices that will put the wood on stock auctions and organize all other important processes.
The second result of reorganization: more efficient use of human resources and technology. Even before the reform, equipment could be idle in one forest farm, while in the neighboring one it was rented from an entrepreneur. This will not happen again.
The third result: reduction of excessive administrative apparatus. The office will become smaller, as well as the people in them. Anyone who really wants to continue working in the forestry sector is offered an alternative.
The company has almost 5,000 vacancies. We have a critical shortage of foresters – people ready to work in the forest. If we speak in military terms, the company has a surplus of clerks “in the rear”, but there is a lack of trained fighters “at zero”.
Thanks to optimization, starting next year, we will increase the salaries of foresters (the same fighters “at zero”) by 10-15%. We motivate people to switch from “office” work to production.
Deputies of some communities opposed the reorganization, and two years ago, with the same wording, opposed the joining of the old forest farms to the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. Even then, the authors of the appeals predicted the collapse, destruction, and privatization of Ukrainian forests.
In fact, as a result of the reform, the state received additional billions of hryvnias in the budget, from which the armed forces are financed. The local budget also benefited from the reform, because the salary of forestry workers, who officially received pennies in forestry farms, increased.
Of course, some of the local elite were left without free wood and are now afraid of finally losing their influence over foresters. But one should not cover one’s personal interest with loud phrases about protecting the interests of the community and the country.
Reorganization is not the last stage of change. Corporatization is ahead. Transparent, internationally recognized management system, access to investments. But before the transformation process, we must finally switch to modern global management standards, complete the process of “decommunization” of forestry.