I don't know about Popovo but this year we discovered there are people in our village who work for the forrestry managers (whoever they may be). These people work for no wages but are allowed to take wood as payment. Their task as I understand is to clear up all the dead trees/damaged trees which they then remove and dispose of.
We benefitted from finding one or two of these guys who delivered good, seasoned hardwood at approximately half the price of that supplied by the woodyards.
It's more than likely that this set up is similar in most areas. Ask around, you may be surprised.