Meeting of the Forest Sector Council in Lviv, Ukraine
15th September 2020
The regular meeting of the Forest Sector Council under the umbrella of the Lviv Regional State Administration took place on September 15, 2020. The following contributions were made:
- Bioeconomy strategy of the Lviv region – the basis of smart specialization of the region (speaker – Mr. Orest Kiyko, Head of the Department of Furniture and Wood Products Technology of the Ukrainian National Forestry University, Professor).
- About execution of the regional target Program of the forestry development in the Lviv region for 2020 (speaker – Mr. Anatoliy Deyneka, Head of the Lviv Regional Forestry Department).
- About the EU sectorial budget support: areas of funding (speaker – Mr. Taras Baranetsky, Director of the Lviv Regional Development Agency).
In his report, Professor Orest Kiyko spoke about the steps and measures taken during the development of the draft bioeconomy strategy of the Lviv region and the results of the analysis of the bioeconomy potential of the region. Then the vision of the bioeconomy development for the Lviv region was presented where bioeconomy is rated as a locomotive for building the future of a prosperous sustainable society, with the forest sector being the leader of the bioeconomy of the Lviv region.
The development strategies of the Lviv Region for the period 2021-2027 are a competitive economy based on smart specialization, comprising 36 bioeconomy projects with an overall sum of 13,1 billion UAH, and clean environment, with 33 bioeconomy projects, accounting to an overall sum of 1,4 billion UAH.
One of the main directions of the draft bioeconomy strategy for the Lviv region is the creation of a centre for supporting the development of the bioeconomy in the Lviv region that will analyse the bioeconomy potential of the region’s economy, coordinate the bioeconomy development, search for grant opportunities and organise workshops and conferences to support the development of the bioeconomy of the Lviv region. Within the planned bioeconomy centre, a business school shall be created that fosters bioeconomy development and supports innovative educational programs and training courses for workers. A business incubator shall additionally accelerate the bioeconomy development.
As wood is the most important biosector of the Lviv region, a resource efficiency system shall be developed and implemented at bioeconomic enterprises. Also, proposals for the development of a “Law about the Market of Wood” with equal rules for all will be made. To foster the cooperation between business and science and government, the work of the “Forest Sector Council” work at umbrella of the Lviv Regional state Administration shall be improved and a cooperation system of the scientific institutions with the united territorial communities of the Lviv region shall be developed. Additionally, a state regional program to support the construction of wooden houses shall be created.
The presentation of the draft bioeconomy strategy for the Lviv region provoked lively discussions among the members of the Forest Sector Council and invited stakeholders. In particular, Mr. Volodymyr Vorobey proposed to develop additional directions of the bioeconomy strategy for the Lviv region and to develop specific business models. Ms. Natalia Pysarchuk proposed to include in the development of the bioeconomy strategy of the Lviv region the results obtained during the development of the project “Multiplication of the effect of supporting green tourism on the development the construction of wooden houses as a high-tech element of the bioeconomy of the Lviv region”. Mr. Vasyl Masyk stressed to the need to promote of the wood products. Mr. Orest Hryniv expressed the opinion that an important direction in the development of the bioeconomy of the Lviv region should be the biofuel production from raw materials of the forest and agricultural sectors.
Following the meeting of the Forest Sector Council, the following decisions were made:
- The Department of Economic Policy of the Regional State Administration should ensure that the draft Bioeconomy Strategy for the Lviv region is brought in line with the regulations of the Lviv Region State Administration, Lviv Region Council and in line with the Lviv Region Development Strategy until 2027.
- Disseminate among the members of the Forest Sector Council and stakeholders the draft Bioeconomy Strategy for the Lviv region.
- Organize a group of representatives of business entities of the woodworking industry of the Lviv region to discuss the possibility of implementing the Bioeconomy Strategy of the Lviv region.
- Based on the results of the submitted proposals to the draft strategy of the bioeconomy of the Lviv region to develop a final version of the strategy.
