russia Is Facing Another Firewood Shortage: Queues, Rising Prices, and No Help from Authorities

Residents of russian villages are entering winter in despair. In Primorye, firewood prices have almost doubled to 40-46 thousand rubles for 10 cubic meters, while the average salary is about 30 thousand rubles. It is difficult to buy firewood even at this price: queues stretch for months.

The situation is similar in most regions, from Belgorod to Karelia. Local authorities promise compensation or subsidies, but real assistance is limited to symbolic amounts – a few cubic meters per household. Preference is given to families of the military, while the rest of the people are left to fend for themselves.

However, the authorities eagerly send wood to the front. A case in point is the temporarily occupied Simferopol: the local occupying authorities cut down trees in a city park, harvesting 12 cubic meters of firewood for the military on Kherson direction.

Despite enormous reserves of timber, firewood is becoming a luxury. Since 2000, its price has increased 28 times. In many regions, a cubic meter costs 3,000–4,500 rubles, and in some places – up to 7,000 rubles. To survive the winter, one needs at least ten cubic meters – an unaffordable amount for pensioners with an income of 15,000–16,000 rubles.

The reasons for this lie in chaotic forestry legislation and bureaucracy. After the liquidation of local forestry enterprises and the ban on rural forestry, residents lost access to forests convenient for harvesting. Complex rules for transportation and sale have made the firewood business unprofitable, and much of the wood is simply rotting.

At the same time, russia continues to export timber. Last year alone, 19.9 million cubic meters were sold abroad – enough to heat half of russian homes with stove heating.