Minister of Forestry on the importance of labor dynasties, staff consolidation, technical re-equipment in the industry

In forestry, there is no place for indifference - as a rule, people who come to this industry are distinguished by a responsible attitude and sincerity. Perhaps because they are imbued with a deep meaning of work: to preserve what previous generations of colleagues created, to add their participation and pass on the overall result to future generations. So that children and grandchildren continue to admire the green landscapes, as today’s workers did in childhood, and know that the forest will always be. Because there are those for whom it has become a part of life, a matter of honor for generations. On the importance of creating labor dynasties, the popularity of forestry among young people, key aspects in the issue of securing personnel and working plans of forestry farms on the eve of the professional holiday - Day of Forest Workers, the correspondent of "R" talked with the Minister of Forestry Sergey Uldinovich.

Sergei Uldinovich. Young people are striving for the sphere – This Sunday, forest workers will celebrate a professional holiday. Sergey Stanislavovich, tell us how many people work in the field today and how many women there are in it.

- Forestry is an industry that unites 34.5 thousand people. But if you look more broadly and ask how many people the forest provides work for today, then this figure can be safely multiplied by two or even three. After all, the resource we grow and harvest is then used in other areas.

The average age of forest workers is 44. This is the golden age, when there is already good experience behind you, and ahead is the opportunity to benefit the industry in which you work. As for gender, the industry remains predominantly male at 79 percent. Every year, more and more girls come to work in forestry.

- How popular is work in the forest industry among young people?

- Every year, up to 500 young professionals and young workers come to our industry. We are happy and strive to create decent working conditions for everyone. Many of the young professionals are yesterday’s targets. And in recent years, we have seen a certain competition among applicants who want to enter the forest specialty in the target area. We're happy about that. I am also glad that more and more ssuza begin to train specialists for forestry.

I will not hide: we are forced to work in conditions of struggle for personnel. In particular, we support and develop the activities of preschool and school forestry, actively build rental housing for young professionals and families, work with a promising personnel reserve, and give an opportunity to earn a decent salary. But it is important to understand that working in the forest is a specific job. Of course, there is a shortage of personnel.

- There are many labor dynasties in the forest industry. Have you counted their number?

- We are proud to have many family dynasties in our industry. The history of some has 200 and 300 years - there are supporting documents. On the Day of Forest Workers, we publish a book about forest dynasties, whose continuous experience is 90 years or more and which are represented by three or more generations. The book will feature 41 families. But I have no doubt that in time a second volume will appear. The history of my family is also closely related to the forest. My brother and sister work in forestry today.

- Our main employee is a native of the countryside. A man who grew up on earth, lived in a private house, from childhood went to the forest for berries and mushrooms, reached for nature. This is clearly shown by our career guidance campaigns. Our main applicant is a representative of the hinterland.

In some areas, forestry enterprises are actually city-forming enterprises. At the same time, our main competitor in the fight for personnel is the agricultural sector. The same tractor driver today looks where the salary is higher, and therefore chooses to work in forestry or agriculture.

Each forestry farm faces the task of ensuring the level of average monthly wages not lower than the district, GPLHO - not lower than the regional. In general, in the industry in August, we reached 2,520 rubles of average monthly wages. At the same time, we are talking about the fact that in most working professions we have piece-premium wages. This means that there are no limit values: it all depends on the results. The same operator of logging equipment today can receive a salary and 7-8 thousand rubles.

It is important to understand that forestry is a diverse industry. For example, we have our own digitalization office, where young people with IT education are welcome, the enterprise Bellesexport, where both logisticians and economists are needed, UE Belgiproles, which unites employees including with a construction profile. In forestry, there is work for everyone.

- At a recent meeting of the board of the Ministry of Forestry, the task was set to increase the construction of rental housing for employees - each forestry farm should build at least two residential premises per year. And this will have to be done systematically - according to the five-year program. Why will the industry pay so much attention to this topic?

Housing is one of the basic human needs. When a forestry worker has everything right with a roof over his head, he calmly solves professional tasks.

As you know, last year, the President allowed employees of the industry to transfer rental housing into ownership after ten years of hard work. This is a huge support for our employees. Forestry, in turn, is interested in the availability of personnel so that people work well. Therefore, the construction of rental housing is a mutually beneficial interest.

I will not say that we are setting records in terms of construction volumes, but this process is underway and will be carried out even more actively next year. For example, in Borisov experienced forestry this week handed workers the keys to three two-bedroom apartments, under construction three more apartments. In general, Minsk region is the leader in terms of construction of rental housing in the industry. Updates in processes and technology - A series of round tables were held in forestry farms, where issues of optimizing work processes were discussed. They are attended by specialists of all directions, who know the sphere to the smallest details. Tell us about the purpose of these meetings. What suggestions and comments are heard most often? What did you take for a pencil?

- We have done this work to understand the problems on the ground, where it may be necessary to amend the legislation. A total of 448 proposals were received – the figure itself suggests that it is time to comprehensively approach the optimization of work processes in the industry. Now we are studying all the proposals in detail, we are working on them with interested parties. It is not a quick process to talk about implementing specific initiatives.

- One of the pressing issues concerns the updating of equipment and equipment in forestry farms. What changes are you going to have?

- The issue of timely updating of equipment and equipment is always relevant. Because their availability and productivity directly depends on the financial performance of institutions.

In service with forestry industry 3278 units of equipment for harvesting and removal of wood. It is planned to purchase another 70 units by the end of this year. Thanks to the available multi-operative equipment, last year, forestry enterprises harvested a record 14 million cubic meters of timber by mechanized means. This is 67.3 percent of the total volume of workpieces. At the same time, we see that every year the profession of wood roller becomes more and more exclusive – it is impossible to do without further building of technical potential.

As for the industrial sector, the main task of forestry is to provide the population with primary sawing products. In parallel, we are engaged in the production of pallets, fuel pellets, home and bane kits, small architectural forms. It was decided to concentrate integrated wood processing in individual workshops, which includes not only sawing, but also the processing of low-grade lumber. “To the maximum, celebrate ordinary workers” In what format will the industry celebrate a professional holiday?

The format will be traditional: we honor the best workers in the industry. First at the district level, then at the regional level, then at the republican level. There will be many awards and congratulations, including from higher authorities and our partners from related agencies. We strive to celebrate ordinary workers as much as possible and thank people for their difficult work.

A small excursion program was also provided for the participants of the republican event. It is not so often that a simple logger or forester manages to travel outside his native region and visit the iconic sites of our country. The holiday is a good reason to do that.

- At the same time, some of the workers will be in the forest: the drills are being developed. Will the people involved in such work be particularly noted?

- Unfortunately, windmills and windmills have become commonplace in our industry. This year, as a result of strong winds, more than 18.8 thousand hectares of forest plantations were affected, of which 6.6 thousand hectares require continuous sanitary felling. Behind these figures is the work of a large team of people: those who surveyed the damaged areas and registered them, harvested and exported wood, those who prepare plots for subsequent reforestation. Including these people are marked with certificates and gratitude on the eve of a professional holiday.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all forest workers and veterans on the upcoming holiday – Forest Workers Day. Thank you for choosing this profession and making it a part of your life. Thank you to all who care about the green gold of our country!

druk@sb.by