Prices of wooden furniture made in Bulgaria may jump by 40%, according to Hristo Yovchevski, a member of the the Bulgarian Branch Chamber of Woodworking and Furniture Industries.

"There will be a price spike if the several companies which bought all of the timber sold on the commodity exchange decide to sell it at a triple markup, which is very much expected to happen," Yovchevski said in an interview on Tuesday.

February 17 was the first day when timber was traded on the Sofia Commodity Exchange.

Representatives of the wood processing industry started voicing their disagreement as soon as the launch of the discussions of the ordinance which introduces it.

The idea of timber sales through the commodity exchange is also strongly opposed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which has blamed Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov for what is sees as a flawed practice.

On Wednesday, employees and owners of small and medium-sized companies in the wood processing sector will stage a protest in Sofia.

The rally will start in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and will end in front of the Parliament building, where the protesters will try to communicate their claims.

Wood industry entrepreneurs are adamant that the sale of timber on the commodity exchange must stop.

They demand a new ordinance regulating logging operations, the establishment of a timber commodity exchange, a ban on long-term contracts for timber sales, a ban on the export of unprocessed timber and the establishment of a tripartite council for the development of the forest sector.