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With the first rains, the fears of the inhabitants of Damascus for a harsh winter were renewed, due to the inability to cover the costs of heating due to living conditions considered the most difficult in recent years, resulting from the continuous increase in prices and their monthly incomes from falling prices.

At the beginning of November, in the neighborhoods of Damascus, shops specializing in the sale of firewood began to offer large quantities of it. Its prices have seen an increase of around 100 percent compared to last year, with a kilogram of olive firewood costing 4,000 lire, while other types cost 3,000.

It has been noted this season that the number of shops and stalls selling firewood has increased, after families relied on it as a means of home heating last year, in light of the family’s share of subsidized diesel established by the government and its high price on the market. black market and the shortage of electricity and domestic gas, which were among the means of heating the country.

Demand for purchasing firewood is currently “non-existent,” according to a shop owner in a neighborhood in southern Damascus, who explains that “even just asking the price, no one asks; Because people are (mutants) and their main concern is to bring bread and food.”

The man who placed dozens of large bags full of firewood in his shop and displayed various types of firewood on a table in front of him did not seem concerned about the lack of purchasing demand. He says: “The seasons (December and January) are approaching and will bring with them the cold, and then people will buy and my profits will double because the prices go up”.

For a woman in her forties, resuming work in firewood shops arouses “fear” in her; Because she reminds her of the sight of her family members who were shivering from the extreme cold of last winter; Due to her inability to provide them with heating due to the living situation which did not allow her to purchase diesel or firewood, the almost permanent interruption of electricity and the shortage of gas. The woman expresses the fear that “the bitter suffering will be repeated” and states: “The life situation is going from bad to worse and prices have increased compared to last year.” I pray to God that he will have mercy on us and have mercy on us.”

Areas controlled by the Syrian government are suffering from a severe crisis in fuel availability since the United States and other Western countries imposed economic sanctions against them, particularly the “Caesar Act”.

The government increased diesel and petrol prices last August, so much so that the price of subsidized diesel for the consumer became 2,000 Syrian pounds per litre, up from 500 Syrian pounds, while the price of a liter of “free” diesel ” became 11,550.

The difficulty of providing means of home heating aggravates the suffering of the majority of Damascus residents. Because they, like most families in government areas, are below the poverty line; The average salary of workers in the State fluctuates between 150 and 300 thousand lire, in the private sector it can reach one million lire (the dollar is equivalent to approximately 14 thousand lire), while a family made up of 5 members has become, in light of the continuous increase in general prices (a kilo of potatoes costs 7 thousand, an aubergine 6,000, an egg 2,500. To live on subsistence you need 6 million lire).

The government has set the subsidized share of diesel fuel due to families at 100 liters in two lots, while the minimum family requirement during the winter is over 600 liters, while the price of a liter on the black market currently reaches around 15 thousand lire, and can reach 20 thousand lire per year. Periods of extreme cold, as happened last year.

While families received only one payment of their share of subsidized diesel fuel last year, thousands of families complain that they have received no payment at all, while an official source in Damascus Governorate revealed earlier this month that the distribution rate of subsidized diesel Diesel in Damascus so far stands at zero and exceeds 10% of the total number of registered people, according to the Al-Watan newspaper, close to the government.

In light of this situation, families wish to keep all old used clothes and shoes, waste plastic, rubber, cardboard, paper, etc.; To use them for heating during the winter, while many do not hesitate to collect pieces of wood and plastic from the streets.

What increases the anxiety of the inhabitants of Damascus for the cold of next winter is the increase in prices of winter clothing of more than 200% compared to last year. During a tour of the shops in the north, south and west of Damascus, it emerged that the prices of medium-quality women’s winter jackets fluctuate between 350 and 500 thousand lira, and wool sweaters between 100 and 200 thousand , while prices in the markets in the center of the capital (Hamra, Salhiya, Shaalan… ) are up to two and perhaps three times the previous prices. The price of a women’s coat reaches one and a half million lire, while that of a men’s jacket reaches one million.

Indicating that these prices are astronomical compared to the monthly income of families, a customer asked a shop employee in a market in northern Damascus, after seeing the prices on the window, a question: “Does anyone buy from you?”, but the employee did not respond.

The man who works in a pastry shop and whose monthly salary is 500 thousand lire, assures us that people can no longer buy only in these shops, but also in the bale shops where the prices have also skyrocketed, and the price of children’s shoes has increased to 150 thousand lire and a leather jacket has reached 300 thousand.

He explains that his son’s mother has carried out restoration work on “Muhammad’s” trousers, sweaters, jackets and pajamas several times, but he has grown up and cannot use those clothes and adds: “The boy is physically tired and the cold is he makes his health felt, and I have no choice but to take out a loan and buy him some simple clothes.

The prices of carpets, rugs and carpets have recorded astronomical figures: the price of a square meter of good carpet reaches half a million Syrian pounds, the average quality is 300 thousand, the average carpet is between 200 and 300 thousand, and the price a blanket is 250 thousand, while the price of a new carpet is one million Syrian pounds.

Oil heaters also recorded astronomical prices, starting from 200,000 for small ones and 450,000 for medium ones, bringing the price of large ones to one and a half million lire, in a context of weak purchase demand, while the price of a Average heater in the used market varies between 150 and 200 thousand.