Only in Mogilev region for a week more than a thousand applications – online service for ordering firewood is gaining popularity

Belarus has launched a single online service for ordering fuel wood. The platform, launched in test mode in September, was transferred to normal operation from October 1. The innovation is designed to simplify the procedure for purchasing fuel for the population, eliminate bureaucratic barriers and transfer communication of citizens with forestry enterprises to a digital format.

The developer of a single digital platform was the republican unitary enterprise Belgosles. All information from the country is accumulated in a single database, which allows you to track the dynamics of demand and the speed of fulfillment of obligations in the context of each region. Specialists in forestry are obliged to monitor the system daily and process each new appeal within two working days. At the republican level, a comprehensive audit of the system is carried out.

The effectiveness of the implementation of the new platform can be clearly seen on the example of the Mogilev region. According to Ruslan Belyavsky, Deputy General Director and Chief Engineer of the Mogilev State Forestry Production Association, the local population is actively mastering the proposed digital tool: The order takes only a few minutes and is issued through the sites of forestry enterprises of the region. The user enters contact details, selects the nearest forestry, indicates the parameters of the cargo and chooses the form of payment - online or upon delivery. Digital services are often used by relatives to supply fuel to the elderly in remote villages. At the same time, you can still apply by phone through a forestry officer or during a personal visit. To date, about two thousand applications have been submitted through the online platform in the region. According to 1365 applications, more than 10 thousand cubic meters of wood were sold.

Statistics show that the average volume of one order is 7.3 cubic meters, which is equivalent to one tractor cart. The greatest demand is mixed breeds.

Firewood can be ordered both in the form of round timber and ready-made stabbed. Regulatory delivery times are the same for both options and depend solely on the type of raw materials: conifers are delivered in up to 14 days, deciduous - up to one month. In the presence of finished products, shipment is made more quickly.

There is no single tariff for the region - each forestry farm forms a price list independently, but crushed firewood on average costs 2.5 times more expensive than round firewood. For example, in the Mogilev forestry one cubic meter of coniferous firewood in the bark with delivery will cost 35.1 rubles without VAT, while for a similar volume of crushed firewood will have to pay 88.5 rubles. Previously, the order procedure required a mandatory personal visit to the forestry, which created serious logistical inconveniences for rural residents and led to a loss of time. Digitalization has completely removed this problem. One of the first users of the new online service was Petr Bridko from the agro-town of Kadino, Mogilev district. Shares experience: - We heat our house with an area of 60 square meters and a bath exclusively with firewood. Now everything is as fast as possible. I went to the website, made an order, the next day I got a call back, and within a week the car was driven to the house.

soloveva@sb.by