site.btaState Forestry Reports Doubled Demand for Firewood in 2022

After a steady downward trend in demand for firewood, this year the Southwestern State Forestry Enterprise (SWSE) reported an almost double increase in the quantities supplied. For about eight years, the supplied quantities have been going down smoothly, following the demand trends, said in an interview with BTA the head of the SWSE’s Forest Territories Protection department Eng. Yuliy Sirakov. A drastic increase, however, is reported in 2022, one the reasons being the rise in energy prices at the beginning of the year.

A comparison of the data on firewood provided by the enterprise to the population over the past five years confirms the trend towards lower demand. In 2018, 206,000 cubic meters of firewood were supplied to the population by the SWSE. In 2019, 186,000 m³ were delivered, and in 2020 - 160,000 m³.

For 2021, 150,000 m³ of firewood have been provided by the company, and from the beginning of 2022 to 20 December – 271,000 m³, or almost double the amount of the previous year.

This is an unprecedented demand in the last years and a record-high quantity of wood provided to the population, said Eng. Sirakov.

Due to the significantly increased demand, the provision of firewood to households continues, and it will resume in the first working days after the Christmas holidays. However, there are delays in some settlements partly due to shortage of manpower.

To provide firewood to people from vulnerable groups, an organization has been created so that firewood is mainly delivered to eligible people on the lists of the Social Assistance Directorate, he added.

By the end of the year, firewood deliveries are expected to reach more than 275,000 m³. To avoid a delay in supply next year, the enterprise urges people who have chosen to heat themselves with wood to anticipate buying it in the spring, which will avoid tensions over delayed deliveries and, on the other hand, help organize the supply and predict its volume.