The article discusses the issues of effectiveness of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certification systems in relation to enterprises and the level to which the systems which present sustainability as a part of their ethos are accepted by consumers. The justifiability and topicality of this issue result from the increasingly strong interest in sustainability of the society as a whole as well as from the long-term vision of sector policies with respect to meeting the objectives of sustainable development. The increasing demand for natural resources exerts pressure on our planet. Sustainability is hence essential for our future and has long been in the centre of the European project. Its economic, social and environmental aspects which form the common objective of society have been acknowledged in EU agreements. A principal document of a global nature is the 2030 UN Agenda for Development, a sustainability programme which has the sustainability of forest ecosystems established in its Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Visions, direction and goals of sustainable development have also been stipulated in the Paris Agreement on climate change (COP21), in the Addis Ababa action programme and in The Future We Want declaration, namely in its Chapter II, which appeals to enterprises and industries for developing strategies which would contribute to sustainable development. This study aims to analyse and assess the justifiability of the existence of certification systems in relation to processing operators and end consumers in the Czech Republic. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that, despite the strong representation of selected certification systems in the Czech Republic, their effectiveness in economic, social and environmental terms is not perceived exclusively positive by businesses and consumers.

ABSTRACT:The basic feature of an economic reform of the forestry in the Czech Republic after 1990 was separation of supervision in the state forests from operating performance. The Forests of the Czech Republic, state enterprise, was charged with management and supervision, hence economic activities of the subject are provided on the basis of contracts by entrepreneurial units called contractors in the forestry. The purpose of the paper is economic analysis of the Forests of the Czech Republic, state enterprise, in the period 1998-2002. The objective is the construction and testing of an elementary method of financial analysis as well as outline of financial situation and development of the chosen subject generally. The paper contributes to branch economy analysis, common in agriculture and wood-processing industry. easier to compare financial statements and makes it possible to compare companies of different size (GRÜNWALD, HOLEČKOVÁ 2001). KeywordsIntensive indicators are interpreted as two extensive indicators being measured. The items being compared have a mutual context. Typical intensive indicators -ratios are profitability, solvency (indebtedness) and liquidity, activity and capital market ratios (VALACH 1999). NEUMAIEROVÁ (1998), KISLINGEROVÁ and NEU-MAIEROVÁ (2000) and other authors also worked with methods of financial analysis. KOVANICOVÁ and KOVANIC (1997) was concerned with detailed utilisation of elementary (and higher) methods of financial analysis.The results of financial analysis are necessary to evaluate in the conception of field specifics, and/or with specifics of manufacturing companies. Particularly KOVANICOVÁ and KOVANIC (1997) pointed to the problem of comparison of ratios values with industry averages, and negative influences connected with "recommended values". SYNEK et al. (2002) classified enterprises according to business activity into industrial, agricultural, forestry, construction, transport, connection, forwarding, commercial, tourist industry, bank, monetary and services.Economic aspects emerging from the character of forestry, the system of forest management, unusualness of forestry production and last but not least economic reforms in forestry in the Czech Republic after year 1990 were described by KUPČÁK (1998KUPČÁK ( , 2003a. Fiscal and accounting aspects must be taken into account in the forestry, arising primarily from valid legislation (KUPČÁK 1999). HAJDÚCHOVÁ (2000) dealt with financial analysis of the company and evaluation of financial ratios under forestry circumstances in Slovakia.The most common source of information on forestry is annual Report on the State of Forests and Forestry in the Czech Republic (i.e. "green reports"), published also on the Internet sites (http://www. mze.cz/); reports for the years 1995-2002 are available. Data and analysis in the chapter Economics in the Forestry Sector express the economic situation of forest owners 1 and besides that (from 1998) also the situation of entrepreneurs in the forestry as well as economic situation of fores...

ABSTRACT:The basic principle of the economic reform of state forests of the Czech Republic after 1990 was to separate management in forests from the implementation of production activities. A state enterprise Forests of the Czech Republic with its headquarters in Hradec Králové was charged to manage state forests. From the former 7 enterprises of state forests 78 joint-stock companies have been established that carry out silvicultural and logging activities in state forests and in forests of other owners under the conditions of competition environment and on the basis of contracts. The paper deals with the exact evaluation of partial and present results of the development of forestry economic reform, aimed at the study of the behaviour of transformed and privatised forest joint-stock companies.Keywords: forestry; economic reform; joint-stock companies; economic result; net profit; loss 1 The principle of coupon privatisation was free of charge distribution of state property among people by means of investment coupons. The investment coupon was a registered commercial paper whose holder could exchange the coupons for shares of selected privatised joint-stock companies. The investment coupon holders could realise the selection both individually and through investment funds.

As was first stressed by the classical economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo, international trade plays a crucial role in the growth process. The paper aims to analyze the influence of foreign trade on economic performance in the wood processing industry (WPI) of Czechia and Slovakia. The multivariate regression method (MLR), assumption tests for MLR models, and Granger causality test were applied to identify association between foreign trade economic performance, and indicators were formed to measure the effects of foreign trade at the industry level. The Granger test revealed the unidirectional causality in the Slovak WPI and bidirectional causality in the Czech WPI. The results revealed that the net export growth has a positive effect on the economic performance of the industry, but only if the growth in imports is lower than in exports. The balanced trade balance indicated no influence of foreign trade on economic performance. The paper contributes to existing knowledge with indicators for evaluation of foreign trade effects on the performance of the industry. The paper also brings new empirical knowledge in trade balance effects on the economic performance of industries.

The innovation of wood-processing technology significantly improves the material conversion of wood into primary processing products. However, the total value of the processed wood in the outputs of the primary processing depends on both the total volume and the wood flow structure in the cascade of manufacturing. The paper is focused on modelling and comparison of different scenarios by identifying the current flow of timber and links in the cascade of processing in the Czech Republic to the development of selected social and economic indicators. In the analysis, three different scenarios were used. The first scenario took into account only the potential for export absorption to current processing capacities. The second scenario was based on the first, adding parameters for the increase of technological efficiency, and the third scenario beyond the first took account of the capacity increase by investing in the sawn wood and pulp production segment. The results showed that to achieve a balanced value creation and societal effects in the form of high or qualified employment and maximize contributions to the social system, it is necessary to create conditions for the allocation of timber for export. At the same time, it is necessary to optimize the structure of production so that the flow has been as large as possible in the cascade and at the same time it has been able to absorb the impacts from the temporary or changing conditions of the available raw wood volume and structure. Appropriate option, therefore, appears to be a compromise between scenarios number 2 and 3. Thus, to strengthen the (technologically or logistically) stability of the existing capacities and to supplement them with the appropriate structure of several new investments in the production of timber and wood-based panels' production.