New fines for firewood: protecting nature or putting pressure on people
5 November 2024 13:58
At the beginning of the heating season in Ukraine, the issue of firewood availability suddenly caused a public outcry.
As a reminder, on October 10, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a law that provides for increased punishment for storing firewood without documents. Amendments were made to the Administrative and Criminal Codes, and the law is now awaiting the president’s signature. As reported by Kommersant Ukrainsky
, according to this law, people will be fined or imprisoned for storing firewood at home without documents. The penalty is up to 7 years in prison (or up to 10 years in martial law).
What the initiators of the bill say
One of the co-authors of the bill, MP Yuriy Kamelchuk, said in a commentary
Commenting on public concerns, Yuriy Kamelchuk noted that the new draft law will not affect ordinary citizens in any way.
“There is no need to be afraid of this draft law. There is nothing wrong with it, because ordinary people will not be affected at all. No one will come to private property, fine you, check you, and so on. The law has no retroactive effect, and it has not yet come into force, it has not been signed by the president,” the MP emphasized.
According to Kamelchuk, it is representatives of regional forestries and “black loggers” who are interested in sabotaging the initiative, as it will limit their opportunities for illegal logging.
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“That’s why the panic that is being spread is completely artificial. In our opinion, it was created by the regional forestry and black foresters to try to shoot down this bill in general, so that the president would not sign it, or it would be reworked, and so on,” he commented.
The MP also pointed to problems with the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, which, according to him, is abusing the situation of war for uncontrolled deforestation.
“In particular, this is the representative office of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, because they have a lot of abuses, they are now cutting down a lot of forest under the guise of the war, and accordingly do not report anything about it,” Kamelchuk said.
An important aspect of the new law is that inspections and penalties will primarily apply to those who engage in massive illegal logging or sell forest products on the roads. Kamelchuk assured that ordinary citizens will not be prosecuted without any grounds.
“That is, there will be no additional inspectors, primarily aimed at loggers who take everything out by car or sell on the roadside, and so on. This will primarily concern them. People need a court decision to prove their guilt in any way, and then the court can decide that the offense is insignificant and cancel any punishment,” the MP explained.
Kamelchuk summarized that the main purpose of the draft law is to fight against “black loggers”.
“And it is the black loggers who will be punished,” he noted.
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What experts say
Despite the stated goal of protecting Ukrainian forests from deforestation, experts point out that household users are not the key threat to the country’s forest resources. Such an initiative looks especially controversial in the context of war and economic hardship, when firewood has become the only source of heat and a means of survival for many Ukrainians.
Andriy Novak, economic expert, in a commentary
“The initiative to fine or even criminalize firewood possession is based on the argumentation of allegedly European standards, allegedly preserving Ukrainian forests, but in fact, Ukrainian forests are being cut down not at the household level, but at the industrial level, by those who then sell the famous timber abroad. These are the real huge volumes of deforestation, not at the level of the needs of household users,” Novak said.
The expert believes that the introduction of punitive measures for firewood, which helps people survive during blackouts, is not only inappropriate, but also a cruel step.
“Moreover, this initiative is not appropriate now in the context of the war, when the economic situation in Ukraine is already very difficult, the financial situation of most Ukrainians is extremely difficult, and after a twofold increase in electricity tariffs, after an increase in excise taxes on fuel and a tax increase, now to introduce such punitive measures for firewood, thanks to which people simply survive in blackouts… this is at least not in time,” the expert summarized.
Meanwhile, social media has exploded with memes and jokes about the new law. Some people are already preparing to pay fines, while others are hiding firewood so that law enforcement officers don’t find it.
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