Russia's Federal Forestry Agency says most often wood is "depersonalized" before smuggling. An expert can tell a log's age and origin, if he sees the rings on the cut end, but to cover up their crimes, smugglers quarter-saw the logs at small illegal sawmills.
In one of wood-smuggling schemes, shell companies are registered with tax authorities and report that they have signed several contracts for wood exports. The companies open accounts and file all necessary documents about their deals with banks, and then sell wood to China for a month or two.
When the time comes for the first inspection and check on how it is complying with tax and customs regulations, company personnel withdraw the money from the accounts using corporate cards and vanish, thereby escaping prosecution.
Roman Shipov, an aide to the head of the Forestry Agency, says the agency is preparing a special operation together with the police - an effort he called Operation Sawmill - to prevent illegal quarter-sawing and wood exports. The official said each batch of exported wood would leave traces in an electronic wood trading system to be created this year, while wood transport and processing inspection systems, as well as a marking system, would also be set up.
