Forests are an important component of the biosphere and sequestration of carbon in boreal forests may represent one of the few realistic alternatives to ameliorate changes in atmospheric chemistry. The former Soviet Union has the greatest expanse of boreal forests in the world; however, the role of these forests in the terrestrial carbon cycle is not fully understood because the carbon budget of the Soviet forest sector has not been established. In recognition of the need to determine the role of these forests in the global carbon cycle, the carbon budget of forest biomes in the former Soviet Union was assessed based on an equilibrium analysis of carbon cycle pools and fluxes. Net primary productivity was used to identify the rate of carbon turnover in the forest biomes.