The first snow had just covered the peaks of the Maramures mountains when we arrived in Uloga, a mountain village on the border with Ukraine, where a map hangs on a nail, writes WWF. The 2.5 kilometers from the asphalt up here seemed endless. As we ascended, the dirt road became muddy and narrow, and when we had to overtake a cart carrying wood up the hill, the wheel of the car got so close to the edge of the ravine that the pebbles began to carry it down.

Local communities in rural areas, which are most affected by energy poverty, pay full price for the wood they use for heating and cooking, while urban dwellers receive subsidies from the government on their gas and electricity bills. In the dead of winter, the authorities highlight social inequality and refuse to help more than 2.5 million households that heat with wood, which is 85% of rural areas. Instead, it subsidizes one population group and ignores another, even though both face the same problem.

The road ends 500 meters from Aunt Ioana’s house. If you have a 4×4 and it’s dry outside, you have a chance to climb. If not, this is where mud heaven begins. Therefore, all the inhabitants of the village, who live above, have a horse and a cart to carry their food and, of course, firewood.

Not even 50 years old, Aunt Yoana has 5 boys and 4 grandchildren, whom she raises almost by herself. Her husband works in Germany and comes home two or three times a year. Talk a lot, loudly and smile often. “That’s how we are. Women or grandparents stay with children and animals. Wood? We live in the forest and they make us buy firewood for 500 lei from below where they unload it. I climb the hill myself, otherwise I would pay another 100 lei for transport,” she says, who lives in a mountain village surrounded by a forest.

All 3,500 households in Poinilles de sub-Monte, the commune to which Uloga’s farm belongs, are heated by wood. Three-quarters of local residents are so poor that they receive “heating aid” from the state, because they fall into the category of vulnerable groups of the population, but with this money they can buy firewood at a very high price, while the vulnerable people they heat. with gas or central heating, mostly in the city, they receive the same kind of assistance, which, however, is applied to the already subsidized price.

The drama of vulnerable consumers

These are typical rural consumers. Impressionable. No one subsidizes them, although they contribute to the state budget. Their voices, embittered in distant villages, cannot be heard. Politicians seem to want to help the more vocal citizens and subsidize their gas and electricity bills, but in reality they bring huge profits to certain economic entities. Finally, subsidized bills, which are strangling the state budget, are paid by Romanians – including those from rural areas who do not benefit from these subsidies – at the highest prices in the EU.

Therefore, the existing subsidy does not apply to residents of villages such as Uloga, that is, to 2.5 million households. Due to the fact that they do not have a gas network, they still heat with firewood. The government does little to help those most affected by energy poverty. The recent decision to launch the “Rable for slabs” program is very good, but not enough.

What are they forced to do to survive? It is illegal to buy firewood that some “well-wisher” can bring home. He knows where. Everyone does what they can, it’s their own way. Who will lose? People who are unlucky enough to find themselves on their street, modern energy infrastructure. Forest because illegal mining is encouraged. Forest bioeconomy, because quality wood is ultimately used as firewood. And the Romanian state, because it does not collect taxes if the wood is not taxed, and because it generates policies that contribute to the erosion of the rule of law.

Benefits of subsidizing firewood

Last year, the government tried to solve the problem of firewood by capping the price, which led to an avalanche of negative side effects, such as the development of a black market, an increase in exports and their prices. But the way out is different: just as the government subsidizes gas and electricity bills, it should also subsidize the purchase of firewood. In addition, the “heating aid” provided to low-income sections of the population can be used to purchase subsidized wood, instead of expensive wood, as it is now.

The subsidy must be valid if the villagers present a tax receipt confirming that they bought firewood legally. Thus, without creating distortions in the market, the state will be able to detect the black market, because subsidized wood will be cheaper than illegal wood. In addition, wood and wood products for home heating should be conditionally subsidized to encourage the use of dry/shredded wood or briquettes/pellets. In this way, we invest in forest infrastructure that can contribute to increased energy efficiency, decarbonization and reduction of air pollution.

In addition, the state would be able to return part of the money through taxation and would reduce illegal mining, which finds its way out mainly in the form of firewood. This would be state aid that would create a win-win situation.

The iron gate at Aunt Ioana’s house closes with a sharp creak, and we walk up the road among the mud, goats, chickens and cows. The village pulsates with life. In the yard, a puppy runs around several pairs of rubber boots placed near the entrance. A boy of 8 years old, in high boots, cheerfully jumps in the mud and runs down the path. Above, near the village head, a school. Old, wooden, with brightly painted windows.