The founder of the WhiteBIT crypto exchange, Volodymyr Nosov, said that wood is the most valuable resource in Ukraine

Volodymyr Nosov, Ukrainian businessman, founder of WhiteBIT crypto exchange stated, that the most valuable resource of Ukraine is not gas, oil or even chernozem, but wood. In an interview with Dmytro Gordon, he emphasized that the country has huge reserves of high-quality oak and ash, which have significant potential for the economy, but are still not being used to their full potential.

“Very often we talk about different types of natural resources. We have oil, gas, coal, etc. And for everyone it looks like a kind of Mecca. But at the same time, I have never heard that someone flaunts Ukrainian wood. And I want to tell you that wood is the most valuable resource of our country. Not even chernozem. We also managed to spoil chernozem by planting it with sunflowers.” Nosov noted.

Nosov noted that Ukrainian wood is one of the best in Europe in terms of its characteristics. This is especially true of oak, which has a minimal level of rejects, a broad structure and high strength. Products with high added value are made from it – furniture, floor coverings, elite decor elements. It is Ukrainian oak that is in demand among manufacturers from all over the world, because it has a much better quality than wood from post-Soviet countries, where the level of defects is much higher.

However, instead of developing its own production, Ukraine has been selling its wood in the form of raw materials for next to nothing. According to Nosov, most of the felled oak is illegally exported to Europe, where it is used to make furniture and parquet, which are then sold back to Ukraine at much higher prices. The businessman noted that our country sells a cubic meter of oak for $400, while its real market value in Europe reaches 2,800 euros per cubic meter.

Nosov paid special attention to regions where there are still stocks of high-quality oak. According to him, the best wood is concentrated in the Zhytomyr region, but if you look at the satellite maps, you can see that a large part of the forests there have already been cut down. Other important areas of oak growth are the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Western Ukraine is also rich in oak forests, but they are inferior in quality to wood from the northern regions.

The businessman emphasized that there are few places left in the world with such resources. For example, in the USA and Canada, almost no oak grows – red oak prevails there, which has worse characteristics. There are no oak forests in China at all. This means that Ukraine has a unique opportunity to become a world leader in the production of high-quality wood and wood products.

Nosov calls the woodworking industry a “golden vein” that could bring the country billions of dollars. However, instead of investing in production, we continue to export raw wood, allowing other countries to make money from processing it.

The businessman also shared his own experience in this field. At one time, he was engaged in the sale of parquet and sold more products than such large Ukrainian retailers as “Epicentr” and “Nova Liniya” combined. Only now, according to him, these companies are beginning to enter the market of expensive materials and expand their range.

According to Nosov, the climatic conditions of Ukraine are ideal for growing oak and ash. This is a huge advantage that the country could use for economic development. However, for now, instead of creating its own production, Ukraine remains a supplier of cheap raw materials for others. And while the world market for wood is growing, we risk losing this unique resource just as we have already lost part of the black earth due to uncontrolled cultivation of sunflowers.