The topic arose after the businessman shared that in his youth, he was involved in the distribution of building materials.
"We often talk about various types of natural resources. We have oil, gas, coal, and so on. For many, these are seen as the holy grail of sorts. However, I have never heard anyone brag about Ukrainian timber. But I want to tell you that wood is the most valuable resource in our country. Not even black soil. We have managed to ruin black soil by planting sunflowers on it," said Nosov.
According to him, Ukraine has "an enormous amount of incredible oak and ash."
"Ukrainian timber, when compared to the markets of Europe, is of the highest quality. The most valuable wood is oak. It is, in fact, used to produce the largest amount of high-value-added products. To a lesser extent, there's ash. Ukrainian oak is the most unique oak in terms of quality. There is minimal rejection, minimal sapwood, and the greatest width. It can produce the highest quality products," explained Nosov.
He noted that he is referring not only to parquet.
"Furniture. Everything that requires the use of beautiful wooden texture – that is the majesty of oak. To a lesser extent – ash. There is a lot of oak in Western Ukraine, but the highest quality oak comes from the Zhytomyr region. If you look at Google Maps for the Zhytomyr region, you will see that there is almost no oak left. The second area is Eastern Ukraine, particularly the Sumy and Kharkiv regions," the businessman shared.
Nosov emphasized that "there is no oak in America, there is no oak in Canada either, because they mainly have red oak," and "in China, there is no oak at all; it simply does not exist."
"If we take the post-Soviet space, there is also oak, but with a very high defect rate, significantly narrower. Therefore, it is impossible to saw it into two lines, to create the kind of mathematics that can yield good high added value, good margins. In Ukraine, in fact, there is an enormous amount of incredible oak and ash. China and America are not competitors. Everything that is cut down in Ukraine is sold without documentation to Europe. They make floors and furniture from it there – and then sell it back to us for euros. But the only caveat is: Ukraine sells it for $400 per cubic meter, while its real price is around €2800 per cubic meter," he reported.
The businessman described the potential for producing high-quality building materials from Ukrainian timber as a "gold mine."
"Currently, in fact, no one else in the world has such raw materials. [...] The Ukrainian climate is perfectly suited for growing such oaks and ashes," believes Nosov.
He mentioned that at one time, he sold more parquet than "Epicenter" and "Nova Line" combined.
"They have probably only just begun to offer a wider range and more expensive products. Back then, they were not a strong player," said Nosov.