How to order firewood through government services

Citizens who heat their living quarters exclusively with firewood have the right to receive a subsidy for firewood - if they do not have a stable source of income.

Support for solid fuel is provided only to those individuals and premises that do not have another heating system - that is, if the main heat supplier is firewood.

The payment amount for each building is calculated individually - depending on how much the family earns in general. Today we will tell you about what benefits citizens can count on for firewood.

Is it possible to cut and collect firewood in the forest?

A sufficient number of citizens are interested in whether it is possible to cut and collect firewood in the forest. Moreover, a law was recently passed according to which (if no amendments are made) citizens will be allowed to collect dead wood for their own needs. However, dead wood is the dead remains of trees, and cutting firewood in the forest is prohibited, and in the near future the ban will remain in force.

At the same time, citizens can apply to harvest wood from the forest for their own needs, and if the application is approved, collect firewood in specified areas of the forest!

Basic Concepts

A subsidy is targeted financial assistance provided to certain categories of persons. Assistance in purchasing firewood is provided to owners of houses with stove heating, where there is no other option for maintaining heat.

This subsidy does not have a fixed amount for each case; the amount of payments is determined individually, taking into account the characteristics of the household or family.

Help with firewood is similar in nature to subsidies for rent and housing and communal services. And therefore, the requirements for those who can receive funds are exactly the same.

This measure allows you to compensate for the costs of firewood after its acquisition and use; it returns the funds and does it in one amount, a single transfer, while solid fuel could be purchased fractionally.

How to obtain permission for timber harvesting through State Services

First of all, it should be noted that permission to harvest timber in the forest is issued by territorial bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources. That is, citizens can submit an application for a permit for timber harvesting:

By personally contacting the territorial body of the Ministry of Natural Resources;
Through multifunctional centers (MFCs) in your region;
Through the State Services portal - however, today not all regional departments allow you to receive this service on the State Services portal.

So, to apply for a permit to collect firewood through State Services , you must:

Go to the portal and enter “Wood” in the search;
Find your region among the search results (sad, but true - the service is not available in all regions; I repeat, I generally found only one region - Lipetsk region);
Select the one you need, for example Lipetsk region, and go to the address indicated here where this service is provided. You will need to undergo authorization on the regional portal of State Services of the Lipetsk region;
After which you can fill out and send an application for the provision of forest plantations to citizens for harvesting wood for their own needs to the Forestry Department of the Lipetsk Region, filling in all the necessary fields;
Also, you need to attach the necessary documents (scans or photos) and click on the “Submit” button;

After which all that remains is to wait for the department’s response in the user’s Personal Account!

Conclusions: you can obtain permission to harvest wood for your own needs on the State Services portal, however, only one region is available so far, and this is sad! Maybe in the future other entities will connect and also provide this service.

Harvesting firewood is not an easy process and requires a lot of effort, time and money. Like it or not, our winters are harsh and not everyone can do without additional fuel as firewood, I’m no exception. We need firewood for a bathhouse, we need wood for a house, an apartment (yes, there are such things), we just need firewood to have it. And so, how to write out firewood and lose the whole day, here is my little story:

We go to the village council to get a certificate for firewood. You must take your passport. They give 5 m3 for a bathhouse, 5.2 m3 for a house, depending on the square meters of the house. They will only give you money to heat your house if you don’t have gas or electric heating. Be sure to check that the certificate indicates the number of square meters of the house, otherwise I got a little confused because of these couple of numbers. It all took about 1 hour, the road, the search, the waiting. The certificate is valid for 1 month. I did this on the first day on Wednesday. I didn’t go to the forestry right away, since Wednesday is not discharge day.

On Thursday at 8:30 I went to the forestry, 13.5 km from home. Luckily there was no queue. They let me fill out an application, not much writing, full name, passport details, contacts. Then they said that they needed photocopies of passports and that they had nowhere to make photocopies. And another unpleasant surprise, I was told that one certificate from the village council was invalid because it did not indicate the square meters of the house and it needed to be redone.

How to get timber for free from the state

A trip to Eleninka to the village council for a new certificate is 8 km. It’s good that a specialist was on site. They helped me make photocopies on the spot. I did everything and again went to Dzhabyk to the forestry for another 8 km. They filled out the paperwork again and gave us receipts that had to be paid at the post office. The time was approximately 11-00. I went home, another 13.5 km.

It will take me about 50 minutes to pay 4 receipts at the post office. There was a queue, it was tedious to fill out forms, a lot of writing. Form 3 was ruined :(, after handing over the receipts, the cashier said that you need to hand over the receipts quickly, otherwise they will quickly burn out.

Time 12-40 I go again to the forestry, 13.5 km. At 13:00 there is no specialist on site. I waited 20 minutes. They started filling out the documents again and suddenly they told me that she had made a mistake and that she needed to pay extra again at the post office. I’m going to the Dzhabyk post office, it’s 1:45 pm, the door is closed, lunch is from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. After thinking a little, I decided to wait until 14-00. Suddenly I left early for lunch, I thought purely intuitively. She’s gone and gone, I didn’t want to go to Eleninka again, I think I’m not in the mood. If I don’t write it out today, I’ll have to wait another week, and there are only a few warm days left. Already thinking in Eleninka at the post office and suddenly a friend appears. It turned out that she was a relative of a specialist at the post office. I called, they arrived and the tedious filling out of forms began again. The forms are slightly different, but I already had a full hand and filled everything out faster.

Procurement of firewood: how much is required for the heating season

The climate of most Russian regions is such that the heating season lasts 6-8 months. But gas supply is far from universal. And they heat stoves and fireplaces in houses with wood. And in gasified settlements, firewood is used for baths. Harvesting firewood is a rather labor-intensive process that requires certain skills. And in addition, compliance with special rules so as not to violate existing legislation.

When is firewood collected and how to calculate the need

You should focus on the consumption of past heating seasons. If this is your first season in a house with wood heating, then refer to the average standards. It is believed that for every 10 square meters of area one cubic meter of firewood is required. With a ceiling height of 2.8 meters. To be sure, add a few cubes to the bathhouse, if you have one. And the safety stock is about 10%. It's better to have a little extra than not enough.

Free wood from the state in 2020

Harvesting firewood is a labor-intensive process, but mandatory for people who heat their homes with wood . This requires a lot of time, effort and money.

Our winters are quite harsh and we cannot do without heating. This is especially true for residents of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation. These categories of citizens have the right to receive state benefits in the form of free timber harvesting for their own needs.

Where can I get firewood for free? Assistance in the form of free firewood is regulated by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 761 “On the provision of subsidies for the payment of housing and utilities,” as well as Art. 30 of the Forestry Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the right of citizens to collect firewood for heating.

The forest is allocated to beneficiaries in the form of a forest plot (plot) . Trees must be cut down and removed independently.

To remove timber, you must obtain permission from the forestry department, which is issued after the entire designated area of forest has been cut down, sawed into logs of the required size, and the felling site has been put in order.

You can use the services of specialized companies for felling and removal of timber . As a rule, the conditions for cooperation with them are as follows: a citizen shows the company’s employees the forest plot allocated to him, and in exchange receives ready-made firewood, but not in full, but only a small part, which, as a rule, is only 10-20%.

Important subtleties

When applying for compensation for reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of firewood and coal, a person needs to focus on the following subtleties:

The corresponding application must be submitted to social security, the local branch of the “My Documents” service;
If the actual location of a private house is geographically located in a remote area, consideration of the application may take a long period of time, and therefore it is advisable to submit the application in advance;
It is possible to apply for a subsidy every heating season;
Compensation should not exceed the amount actually spent on the purchase of fuel;
If distorted data is provided, the subsidy will be automatically refused.

Who gets free firewood?

Different categories of citizens can count on preferential timber . Each region has developed its own regulatory framework for providing citizens with firewood. Over the past 7 years, up to 700 thousand citizens have been using this opportunity in Russia.

Much depends on the specific situation. For example, there are forest and steppe regions where there is very little forest. Natural areas also influence space heating standards and requirements.

Assistance is mainly provided to low-income citizens. Each region has its own calculation, with the help of which the commission determines whether a family can be classified as a preferential category of citizens with the right to receive free firewood.

The essence of the calculation system is to determine the amount that goes from the general family budget to pay for services. If this amount is more than 22% of the budget, then such a family will have the right to apply for assistance from the state.

If the family budget is below the subsistence level, then the government uses an additional coefficient, and to calculate it, you must first divide the current subsistence level by the family income, and only then carry out the calculation and conversion to percentages.

An additional condition for receiving a firewood subsidy is living in poor housing. Only citizens of the Russian Federation can receive free firewood.

So, the main categories of beneficiaries include:

small peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East;
disabled people and their families;
veterans, war participants;
Chernobyl NPP participants;
large families;
former concentration camp prisoners;
pensioners.

The exact list of categories of beneficiaries is approved by each region individually, so this information needs to be clarified. According to the law, such citizens are allocated a plot for felling once a year.

Algorithm of actions

How to apply for a subsidy for firewood? The algorithm of actions for the applicant is as follows:

Write a statement to the local administration or contact directly the forestry department at the location of your home. The forestry department must document that you live in a house that is heated with wood. Such a certificate can be obtained from local authorities. In your application, please provide all important information (address, full name, passport details). In addition, indicate the full name of the local forest district in which you want to log. The purpose of obtaining wood is “for one’s own needs.” The application must indicate the volume of firewood required for heating. How much firewood is required for a private house? You should know that each region sets its own standard for the volume of firewood. But you have the right to calculate the required amount of firewood based on the area of the heated part of the living space. You can also indicate your preferred wood characteristics in the application.
Submit all required documents.
Draw up a lease agreement for a forest plot that will allow you to freely cut down and remove wood. Without a contract, your actions will be considered illegal.

What documents are needed? The documentation package in each region may differ somewhat, but the basic list is as follows:

photocopy of passport;
certificate of family composition;
copies of documents for a plot of land;
family income certificate;
a copy of the certificate of availability of wood heating.

How to obtain permission to cut down forests for firewood? To consider the application, the forestry enterprise assembles a special commission, which is obliged to respond within 10 days. The commission includes officials from the departments of architecture and environmental management.

If the application is approved, the applicant will receive a logging permit - the so-called forest ticket. Then the contract is drawn up. In case of refusal, the applicant has the right to go to court to appeal.

Absolutely all vegetation on a plot cannot be cut down. Forestry regulations specify the rules by which logging should be carried out. You can cut down dead wood, fallen trees and trees damaged by pests.

There are areas where clear cutting is allowed . These are the areas where the forest has lost its biological stability.

A prerequisite is the clearing of the forest area upon completion of felling. Branches, tall stumps, and household debris need to be removed. If this condition is not met, the environmental commission will not accept the cut-down plot and will impose a large fine.

Other ways to apply for free firewood

Next, you will learn how to apply for free timber for firewood in the forestry enterprise through State Services and through the MFC. It is immediately worth noting that by 2020, such an online service is not yet available in all regional departments.

So, to apply for assistance from the state in the form of free firewood, you must complete the following steps:

Register on the State Services website and go to your personal account. Search for “Wood”. Find your region from the drop-down list and select. Go to the specified address. Log in to the regional State Services portal. Fill out the application form and send it along with scans (or photos ) documents.

Next, you just have to wait for a response from the department, which will come to the user’s Personal Account.

If a Multifunctional Center is open in the city, then the citizen has the opportunity to submit documents in this way . MFCs also provide citizens with services for applying for benefits to receive free wood.

To do this, you need to visit the center, write an application and hand over documents (see list above) to an employee. Next, the papers will be transferred to the forestry enterprise, and a decision will be made to the applicant.

How to apply for compensation for firewood? What documentation do I need to provide?

Starting the procedure for receiving compensation for firewood is possible by contacting the authorities at your place of residence.

You must take the following documentation with you:

Identification of a family member who is eligible to receive such support.
Extract - what is the composition of the family?
Extract from the house register.
Technical passport.
Document on the general dimensions of the building.
Receipts for the purchase of firewood. These are the following documents:

- invoice;

- amount paid for delivery;

— other documentation proving the purchases.

After this, those wishing to apply for a subsidy must draw up an application, according to which the compensation payment will be processed.

An important point: all information must be the same as in documents and passports. Reporting false information is strictly prohibited by law.

If a citizen applies for the first time, additional documentation is required:

Questionnaires - for the processing of confidential information.
A registered bank account is where the applicant will receive his compensation for the purchase of firewood.
If the applicant has special status, supporting documentation will also be required. For example, if we are talking about a pensioner, you must attach the appropriate identification.

To receive support, you need to independently visit the local self-government authorities or the MFC and submit an application - reflecting all your expenses for firewood, a bank account to which you will be credited with a compensation payment.

Dead wood: what is it and how to write it out?

Since January 1, 2019, citizens of the Russian Federation have received the right to collect dead wood, or fallen wood, in the forests for free - the lying remains of fallen tree trunks and branches . Previously, unauthorized removal of fallen trunks from the forest was considered a violation.

To legalize these actions, it was necessary to draw up a lease agreement for the site, otherwise they would face a fine or even 2 years of imprisonment. Now collecting stale dead wood is not an offense. However, this also requires permission from the forestry department.

There is a lot of controversy on this issue, since dead wood is not classified as a timber forest resource. Many people believe that people who collect dead wood are thereby cleaning up the forest, so they should be given the opportunity to freely collect without any permits. But for now the law states that to collect dead wood it is necessary to obtain permission from the forestry enterprise in the form of a logging ticket.

So how to burn dead wood for firewood? To do this, submit an application to the local administrative authority or directly to the forestry department to obtain a forest license.

However, there is one condition: during the collection of fallen dead wood, you cannot use any equipment. As for volume, each region has its own norm.

So, today you learned how to order firewood in rural areas. If you or your relatives have not yet taken advantage of this opportunity, then hurry up: winter is just around the corner.

Common Mistakes

Mistake #1. If two beneficiaries live in the house, you can apply for a double subsidy.

No, payments are made taking into account the number of residents, but only one beneficiary can take advantage of the benefit.

Mistake #2. Large families cannot receive compensation of more than 30%.

At the level of federal legislation, the amount of payments is indeed equal to 30%, but if desired, local authorities have the right to increase the amount of compensation at their discretion.

Conditions for receiving timber from the state

In 2021, citizens and entrepreneurs can purchase forest by participating in an auction. Certain categories of citizens can harvest timber for construction in two ways - free of charge and at a minimal price.

Free timber from the state is provided only to indigenous peoples of the North, Far East and Siberia. This is stipulated in federal legislation.

In some regions, this opportunity is provided to WWII veterans, disabled people and combatants.

Most often, privileged categories of citizens have the opportunity to receive timber from the state without participating in tenders, i.e., at a starting price.

The established benefit is provided under certain conditions. Conditions may vary by region.

Such restrictions include:

Use of forest resources only for own needs:
for the construction or renovation of residential buildings;
for the construction of outbuildings.

What needs can be attributed to one's own are determined by local authorities. This list is not specified in the law. Therefore, all the needs of the population that are not related to commercial activities can be classified as personal needs.

If the forest will be used to build a house, the foundation of the house must be ready.
Logging for the purpose of further processing and sale is not permitted.

Spruces, like other conifers, are not classified as building materials. Harvesting softwood trees for Christmas decorations is considered a commercial activity. Therefore, permission to cut down on preferential terms is not granted.

Forest allocation standards

To build a house, citizens are allocated 150 cubic meters of forest every 25 years.

Additionally, for repairs, you can count on 50 cubic meters once every five years.

For heating, the volume of wood is 15 cubic meters.

In reality, these indicators differ in different regions.

The established standard is influenced by the following factors:

natural area (are there forests);
duration of the heating season;
construction technologies and features of local building materials.

If a family has lost their home as a result of a fire, then they have the right to receive forest allocation for construction out of turn. To confirm, you must present the relevant documents from the State Fire Supervision Authority.

In rural areas, wood is most often used for heating. In this case, a forest plot is allocated annually for firewood collection.

Do you need expert advice on this issue? Describe your problem and our lawyers will contact you as soon as possible.

Cost of preferential wood

The cost of timber is set independently in each region. For example, residents of the Murmansk region can purchase it at a price of 14 rubles per cubic meter. But in the Tyumen region the cost is much higher.

It is 220 rubles per cubic meter of wood.

According to regional law, discounts may be provided to already established tariffs. For example, when using wood as fuel, large families, disabled people, and veterans can receive a 50% discount.

On average, the preferential price per cubic meter for building a house in Russia in 2021 is 63.5 rubles.

How much is the subsidy for solid fuel?

The amount is individual and depends on many factors that will be assessed by specialists. In addition, there are several compensation options. The first of them is on checks - they return the amounts indicated on them. Also, compensation can be advance and additional, which is provided after the advance. As mentioned above, on average this amount is about 5-6 thousand rubles, but it can vary within a significant range.

Important! The costs of fuel delivery can also be reimbursed, as well as other services - felling, and so on.

Procedure for allocating forest for construction

Citizens can receive forest in the form of a standing plot.

You can cut it out yourself or with the help of harvesting companies.

In addition, you need to not only remove the trees, but also put the felling site in order after yourself.

To export wood, you must obtain permission from the forestry department.

The forestry department will issue permits only when everything is removed and ready for transportation.

It is often during the logging process that citizens encounter problems. Not everyone can correctly assess the condition of the plot. There are cases when, instead of the required 150 cubic meters, only about 100 cubic meters can be obtained from the allocated area.

In addition, when processing the wood, the part will be considered unsuitable for construction due to its thickness and dimensions.

This is often used by private logging companies that offer people ready-made wood in exchange for a plot. As a result, a person receives only 15 cubic meters instead of 150.

List of documents for registration

To register a forest for the construction, reconstruction or repair of a residential building and outbuildings, you must contact the local administration with an application.

The list of required documents is not approved by law; it is different for each region.

In the application, the citizen indicates for what needs he needs wood. If he plans to use it as fuel, he will need to provide a certificate of the presence of wood-burning stoves in the house.

To build a residential building, you must provide along with the application:

Permission to build a house.
Confirmation of ownership of the site.
A certificate from local government authorities stating that the forest has not previously been allocated. If the issuance has already taken place, it is necessary to indicate the time frame when it was carried out.
A copy of the applicant's passport.

It will not be possible to get wood at a reduced price if the family has an apartment and wants to build a summer house. Only those whose house is declared unsafe can count on a positive decision.

A commission is created to review the application. It includes representatives of the village administration; employees of the architectural committee and the department of forestry protection and environmental management may also be present.

If a positive decision is made to receive, the citizen enters into a purchase and sale agreement with the forestry enterprise.

The state verifies the intended use of wood through routine inspections. If the forest was intended for housing construction, then the inspection of the house under construction can be carried out by representatives of the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as inspectors of the state forest protection.

We describe typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is unique and requires individual legal assistance.

To quickly resolve your problem, we recommend contacting qualified lawyers on our website.