For firewood they will introduce "ceiling" prices

The government sets a “ceiling” for the price of firewood: the corresponding amendment has been submitted to Parliament and is being voted on, and obliges, among other things, companies operating in this area to make their statements.

According to enikonomia.gr, with this particular step, the Ministry of Development is “setting a cutter” on the amount of profit from firewood salespellets and other solid fuels used for heating.

The Decree stipulates that, until December 31, 2022, it is prohibited to receive gross profit from the sale of any type of solid fuel used for space heating, when the margin* of gross profit per unit of volume or weight, depending on the method of sale, exceeds the corresponding gross profit as of November 1 2021″. It is noted that Deputy Development Minister Nikos Papathanasis announced the law, speaking on Wednesday on Realfm 97.8.

**Margin shows the difference between revenue and variable costs.

“We legally we set a limit on the percentage of profit that was in effect in November 2021. Therefore, there will also be a limitation that can be controlled”, stressed, among other things, Mr. Papathanasis.

Duty to declare stocks

At the same time, enterprises selling firewood are obliged declare to the competent authorities your stocks of firewood, pellets and briquettes for kindling in order to avoid an artificial shortage in the market.

We remind you that in accordance with a clause on speculation is prohibited extracting gross profit (the difference between sales revenue and the cost of goods, works or services) from sale of any product or provision of any service that is necessary for the health, nutrition, livelihood, movement and safety of the consumer until 31.12.2022, as well as from the sale of agricultural products and food, in particular raw materials for the production of fertilizers, animal feed, raw cereals of all kinds, flour, sunflower and vegetable oil, when the gross profit margin per unit exceeds the corresponding gross profit margin per unit until September 1, 2021

Explosive rise in firewood prices

Firewood this year costs about 130-160 euros per cubic meter compared to 100-120 euros last year, i.e. growth of about 33% and … to who knows what limits. Prices vary depending on the type of wood. In the case of pellets, a 15 kg package has reached 8.5-10 euros from 5.5-6 euros a year ago.

Wood supply problem

Experts note that the problem lies not only in the prices that reach the end consumer. This is directly related to the supply of timber. As explained by the Ministry of Development, wood often remains at logging sites (problem with export) or felling (lack of workers), etc. And although these problems have been around for a long time, now that prices have risen, they have become much more obvious. The point, according to the ministry, is to be able to better coordinate the implementation of the stock of firewood.

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