KYIV, Nov 18 – The Verkhovna Rada adopted at the first reading bill No. 4197-d on the timber market, but removed the provision on lifting the moratorium on timber exports from it.

Some 276 MPs baked the decision at a parliamentary session on Thursday, with the required 226 votes.

Initially, revised bill No. 4197-d on the timber market envisaged the abolition of the moratorium on the export of unprocessed timber from Ukraine and the introduction of a transparent timber market. It provided, in particular, the publicity of information on the sale of wood and wood products and proposed to provide access to it to all market participants, and also established the responsibility of forest owners and permanent forest users for refusing to supply buyers the timber specified in the contract, determines the principles of electronic auctions, their types and disclosure requirements.