We have had several conversations with people we know in BG over the past week about the BG governments decision to ban the cutting of new wood and from next year the EU has banned BG from burning wood.  

Whether this is the true situation is a mystery to us at the moment, but if this is the situation many of us will have to change to pellet burners.  Pellet burners are expensive to purchase compared with buying wood burners although the cost of running one is comparable with wood burning costs.

A friend of ours was quoted 20,000 nb by a local company to VT for a complete installation which included radiators, I am told by a reliable source that is far more than it should be and the price should be nearer 10,000 nb.

Has any Forum member any reliable information about this subject?

First I have herd about it, I know they are clamping down on illegal cutting down of trees but that's all.

Since reading your post Itchy, I took it up with a close friend who is in senior management in the relevent department.

They have no knowledge of any changes regarding wood burning, but are eager to learn where you got the info from.

It was in a lot of the the Bg papers bak a few months now


but the first report was in Novitine news..as below






EC May Fine Bulgaria over Failure to Stop Use of Wood for Home Heating
Energy | January 10, 2013, Thursday

Bulgaria faces a penalty of up to EUR 120 M per year by the European Commission unless households stop using wood to heat their homes, according to Andrey Bachvarov, Chair of the Association of Biomass Energy Producers

Bulgaria faces a penalty of up to EUR 120 M per year by the European Commission unless households stop using wood to heat their homes, according to Andrey Bachvarov, Chair of the Association of Biomass Energy Producers.

In a Thursday interview for the Bulgaria On Air TV station, he emphasized that the biomass energy sector contributed to the solution of a number of environmental problems like the content of fine particles in the air and the utilization of solid household organic waste and sewage sludge.

Bachvarov, as cited by econ.bg, cautioned that the ambiguities in Bulgarian legislation, as well as a number of unresolved problems, posed a threat to the implementation of renewable energy capacity targets.

Bulgaria must build 80 new installations for sewage sludge treatment and rehabilitate 20 such units but the projects have been delayed substantially.

In February 2012, the Chair of the Association of Biomass Energy Producers in Bulgaria noted that the Bulgarian grid had not been initially designed to sustain renewable energy power stations.

He argued that as a result the output of the renewable energy power stations was unsteady, it created disruptions in the electricity grid, and the preferential tariffs were paid by the end consumers.

In his Thursday interview, Bachvarov disagreed with claims of the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) and the Electricity System Operator (ESO) that Bulgaria already had biomass power stations with a capacity of 41 MW.

Citing statistics of the Association, Bachvarov declared that Bulgaria had biomass power stations with a capacity of 7.5 MW.

He also noted that economic analyses had indicated that Bulgaria could not have biomass power stations with a total capacity exceeding 100 MW.

well I am still putting one into my house, I always wondered why I did not see coal about for the fire and I did try and ask but every time I asked they wood is the Bulgarian way.

when the roof is re done I will also have solar panels and the wood burner will be connected to the radiators.

justbazz wrote:

Since reading your post Itchy, I took it up with a close friend who is in senior management in the relevent department.

They have no knowledge of any changes regarding wood burning, but are eager to learn where you got the info from.

Thanks for the info Bazz, very worrying when you go to a bar for a coffee and meet friends and come away with idle gossip that has been wanging around!

We shall be getting some more wood shortly after all.

I would go ahead and get the wood stocked up mate...IF a ban does occur, and it probably will eventually, I can't see it being introduced in the short term...the logistics involved and the policing of such a ban would monumental!!!

The only people to benefit from such a ban will be the grave diggers!!!

Buy your wood, stoke the fire and stay warm.

paddy wrote:

well I am still putting one into my house, I always wondered why I did not see coal about for the fire and I did try and ask but every time I asked they wood is the Bulgarian way.

when the roof is re done I will also have solar panels and the wood burner will be connected to the radiators.

Wood is and has been the Bulgarian way since way back when...coal is expensive, not easy to obtain and gives off just as much, if not more, nasty stuff as wood.


The most ironic part of the whole situation is the fact that Bulgaria is bordered by countries which probably burn more wood than we do...prevailing winds and other climatic conditions mean that even if we stopped using wood tomorrow, you would hardly notice the difference!

He's not the Chair of the Association of Biomass Energy Producers for nothing. Scaremongering is obviously considered a legitimate marketing ploy.

There's a big difference between an edict from our Masters in Brussels and an opinion from someone with a vested interest, in an interview for the Bulgaria On Air TV station.

Have a look at a biomass system by all means, but don't hit the panic button yet!

Woodburners can be used as a pellet burner by an addition of a metal basket to hold the pellets. See a video on Utube, fascinating and a lot cheaper than buying a pellet burner.

From 2016 prohibit wood-burning and coal. Consumption should only be by biomass

Stoves of firewood and coal after two years may disappear. The reason is that in 2016 European Directive enters into force, which requires lower levels of carbon and nitrogen emissions. To cover them, the use of wood and coal for heating in Bulgaria should be replaced with biomass briquettes, transmits "Flagman".

But they are more expensive and very poor households are made luxury. The problem was discussed at the energy forum in Vratsa. The accounts now show that a household spends 1,200 lev for coal during the heating season. His heating with pellets from biomass will cost half more expensive - about 1,800 Levs

At those prices grandmothers of the village will have to give up kyumbetata. The restriction applies to fireplaces and heating systems.

EU directive on emissions again will lead to failures of power plants and cement plants and glass, predicted MEP Vladimir Urutchev. It will affect most thermal power plants and industrial plants that burn coal. They need to make substantial investments to reduce air pollution.

According Uruchev investments will hardly be by investors, which will lead to mass bankruptcies.


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If you look on Google and click on utube it will show that there is a way to convert wood burners to pellet burners. The Americans appear to have been changing their heating systems ahead of us in Europe.

The wood burner only needs a metal basket on small legs and placed in the wood burner, filled with pellets and in certain circumstance will burn for 12 hours before it needs refilling.

Thanks for the info Itchy