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With the first rain, Damascus residents’ fears of a harsh winter were renewed due to their inability to cover the costs of heating due to living conditions that are considered the most difficult in recent years, resulting from the continued rise in prices and the decline of their monthly incomes.

At the beginning of this November, stores in Damascus neighborhoods specializing in selling firewood began offering large quantities of it. Its prices witnessed an increase of about 100 percent, compared to last year, with the price of one kilogram of olive tree firewood being 4,000 liras, and other types 3,000.

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

The demand for buying firewood is currently “non-existent,” according to a shop owner in a neighborhood in southern Damascus. He explains that “even just asking about the price, no one asks; Because people are (mutant), and their main concern is bringing bread and food.”

The man who placed dozens of large bags filled with firewood in his shop, and displayed various types of firewood on a table in front of him, did not appear concerned about the lack of demand for purchases. 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 prices are rising.”

For a woman in her forties, the resumption of work in firewood shops raises “fear” in her; Because it reminds her of the sight of her family members shivering from the extreme cold last winter; Because of her inability to provide them with heating due to the living situation that did not allow her to buy diesel or firewood, the almost permanent power outage, and the scarcity of gas. The woman expresses her fear of “recurring the bitter suffering” and says: “The living situation is going from bad to worse, and prices have increased compared to last year.” I pray to God to have mercy on us and have mercy on us.”

The Syrian government-controlled areas are suffering from a major crisis in the availability of fuel since the United States and other Western countries imposed economic sanctions against them, most notably the “Caesar Act.”

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

The difficulty of providing home heating means deepens the living suffering of most Damascus residents. Because they, like the majority of families in government areas, are below the poverty line; The average salaries of workers in the state range between 150 and 300 thousand liras, and in the private sector it may reach one million liras (the dollar is equivalent to about 14 thousand liras), while a family consisting of 5 members has become, in light of the continuous rise in general prices (a kilo of potatoes is 7 thousand, An eggplant is 6,000, and an egg is 2,500. You need 6 million liras to live on a subsistence basis.

The government set the family’s share of subsidized diesel at 100 liters in two batches, while the minimum family need during the winter is more than 600 liters, while the price of a liter on the black market currently reaches about 15 thousand liras, and can reach 20 thousand liras per year. Periods of extreme cold, as happened last year.

While last year families received only one payment of their allotment of subsidized diesel, thousands of families complain that they did not receive any payment, while an official source in Damascus Governorate revealed, at the beginning of this month, that the rate of distribution of subsidized diesel in Damascus so far is no. It exceeds 10 percent of the total number of registered people, according to Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government.

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

What increases the anxiety of residents in Damascus about the cold of the coming winter is the increase in the prices of winter clothes by more than 200 percent, compared to last year. During a tour of shops in the north, south and west of Damascus, it became clear that the prices of women’s winter jackets of medium quality range between 350 and 500 thousand liras, and wool sweaters range from 100 to 200 thousand, while the prices in the markets of the center of the capital (Hamra, Salhiya, Shaalan… ) Up to two and perhaps three times the previous prices. The price of a women’s coat reaches one and a half million liras, and a men’s jacket reaches one million.

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

The man who works in a cake bakery and whose monthly salary is 500 thousand liras, assures us that people are no longer able to buy only from these shops, but even from bale shops where prices have also skyrocketed, and the price of children’s shoes has reached 150 thousand liras and a leather jacket has reached 300. one thousand.

He explains that his son’s mother has performed restoration operations on “Muhammad’s” trousers, sweaters, jackets and pajamas more than once, but he has grown up and cannot use those clothes. He adds: “The boy is physically tired and the cold is affecting his health, and I have no choice but to take out a loan and buy him simple clothes.”

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

Diesel 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 liras, amid weak demand for purchases, while the price of a medium heater in the used market ranges between 150 and 200 thousand.