Moldsilva to put 33,400 Xmas trees up for sale

The national forestry agency Moldsilva intends to put up for sale about 32,000 spruce trees and 1,400 pines for this Christmas and New Year season, saying that it is ready to provide more if the demand requires it.

The first trees will appear for sale next week and will be available until December 31 inclusive. Last year, the demand was for 44,000 spruce trees.

The trees will range in height from 1 to 5 meters, but most of them will be 1 to 2 meters tall, as this is the most demanded size. It takes 5 to 7 years for a nursery tree to reach this height.

Prices at the nursery remain unchanged from 2009, meaning a 1.5m tree will cost around 36 lei. However, as practice showed in previous years, prices may get as high as four times the amount in the open market.

Illicit tree cutting is punishable by fines from 800 to 1,000 lei in the case of individuals, and the fines are multiplied by ten in the case of legal entities.

Adapted from Allmoldova