The article presents the results of the study of the peculiarities of assessing the competitiveness of enterprises in the forest industry. The forest industry is one of the most promising in the country's economy. Russia is the world leader in timber reserves, and the domestic market is rather underdeveloped. The basic factors for the development of this industry are extremely favorable. The current situation imposes a certain imprint on the peculiarities of production activities. However, most of the competitiveness factors remain unchanged. The study summarises these factors and presents them as benchmarks for selecting specific indicators that affect the integral competitiveness index. At the same time, the competitiveness of a specific enterprise depends on the successful resolution of a set of contradictions, the key ones of which are also outlined in this document. It is the resolution of these contradictions that can significantly improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the country's entire forest industry. The main directions of modernisation should be focused in these areas. The work is exploratory in nature and is based on the contributions of many famous authors of theoretical and applied works, as well as on our own developments. The results obtained allow us to formulate general positions for the development of a detailed methodology for assessing the competitiveness of forestry enterprises.