How much firewood can be stored on your own yard: explanation of the law's author.

The law voted by the Verkhovna Rada allows Ukrainians to store 30 cubic meters of pine firewood or 15 cubic meters of oak firewood. This was reported by the "Servant of the People" party with reference to one of the authors of the law No.9665 Maksym Pavliuk.

According to Pavliuk, the law project voted by the Verkhovna Rada concerning the improvement of responsibility for offenses in the field of forestry and the fight against the illegal circulation of timber is not directed against the population using firewood for heating their own homes, but concerns "black loggers", illegal sawmills profiting from the stolen wood.

"In some media, there were reports that allegedly the norms of the voted law project prohibit the population from storing firewood at home for personal use without supporting documents. Such messages do not correspond to reality at all and are not just an arbitrary interpretation of the voted norms, but an outright lie", stated the deputy.

"In other words, a person bears no responsibility for storing 30 cubic meters of pine firewood or 15 cubic meters of oak. This is the amount needed by a household for a heating season, and even with some reserve," noted Maksym Pavliuk.

"The law has no retroactive effect, so state authorities, including the police, have no right to demand documents for timber that was purchased before the law came into effect. This law project is designed not to search for firewood in people's yards but to prevent the circulation of illegal timber and conserve nature, and bring Ukrainian legislation into compliance with European requirements", stated the author of the law project.

Recall, on October 10, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law project that provides for the responsibility for storing firewood without documents. It has been passed to the president for signing. The authors of the law project are deputies Maksym Pavliuk and Anton Polyakov. The law provides:

• a fine of 34 thousand UAH for storing firewood if their cost is estimated up to 30 thousand UAH
• from 5 to 7 years imprisonment if the cost of the timber is more than 30 thousand UAH.

In addition, the law provides for a fine for citizens for small volumes of timber - from 1 cubic meter if they do not have documents confirming the origin of the firewood.