Archive note. This article describes a Ukrainian government programme announced in September 2022. It is kept for the record; the figures, deadlines and procedures described below are no longer current. For anything to do with buying firewood today, see the articles linked at the end.
War, economic crisis, gas blackmail and the risk of strikes on power stations and other critical infrastructure made the 2022/23 heating season a difficult one. To get through the winter, many people installed fireplaces, stoves and wood burners, giving themselves an uninterrupted source of heat that depends on neither gas nor electricity. The only condition is having firewood.
In September 2022 the press service of Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration announced the possibility of providing firewood free of charge to residents of the regions directly affected by the fighting.
"We will get through the winter together! In the territories adjoining the combat zones, the authorities will provide residents with free timber so that every family has the chance to heat their home during the autumn and winter period," the statement said.
Which regions were covered by the programme?
The ministry stated that regional military administrations would be able to supply timber for the heating season to residents of territories adjoining the zone of military operations. The cost of purchasing and delivering the timber was to be compensated by redistributing a subvention from the state budget.
The project was to be implemented within the ministry's allocated expenditure of 562.5 million hryvnia. (These figures were current as of September 2022.)
Residents of the following regions could apply to their regional military administrations for free timber: Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv.
How was the purchase of firewood simplified?
In addition, the Ministry of Reintegration together with the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine simplified buying firewood ahead of the heating season. From that point anyone could buy firewood by applying directly to a forestry enterprise: it was enough to submit an application and pay for the order.
Work was also under way on an online shop where citizens could order firewood online without leaving home. To buy firewood, a few simple steps were required: register on the site, choose a forestry enterprise, decide on the type and volume of firewood, and pay.
What is the situation today?
The online purchase of firewood from state forestry enterprises has since become a working service, and firewood is sold at a fixed official price per solid cubic metre. But the emergency free-supply programme described above belongs to the 2022/23 season and is not a current entitlement.
If you are choosing fuel today, the practical questions are different: which species to buy, how to check the moisture content, and how to store the wood so that it stays dry. Those are covered in the articles below — and if you are still choosing the appliance itself, start with the straight steel inserts, corner inserts or steel fireplace stoves sections.
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WHAT FIREWOOD IS BEST FOR A FIREPLACE AND STOVE
WHERE TO STORE FIREWOOD FOR THE FIREPLACE
COMPARISON OF PRICES FOR HEATING A HOUSE WITH GAS, ELECTRICITY AND FIREWOOD