Eco-Minister Nona Karadjova permits the illegal expansion of the Bansko ski-zone

The planned new lift will be built entirely on the territory of National Park Pirin where the construction of new and the expansion of old ski-runs and installations is forbidden. The higher capacity of the lift will increase substantially the human pressure on the environment, especially at the upper lift station remind the environmentalists.

The decision of the minister violates the European and Bulgarian legislation to assess each project or investment intention that is likely to have a negative environmental impact on protected zones. The European Commission has already started an infringement procedure against Bulgaria about two ski installations without an EIA and without a compatibility assessment in the area of Chalin Valog in National Park Pirin, a part of the Bansko ski-zone. So far, the European Court has issued decisions on cases similar to the one in ski zone Bansko and has found a problem when projects had not passed an EIA and other environmental assessments.

The coalition “Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria” calls attention to the fact that National Park Pirin is an exclusive state property. This is why the Bansko ski-zone is built with a concession under the condition that the capacity of the installations does not surpass the number of beds in the Bansko municipality as of year 2000. The Minister of Environment and Water who at the time permitted the construction of Bansko ski-zone is the current Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, Evdokia Maneva.

At the moment, under the pretext that the number of visitors in Bansko has grown, there is the trend toward “a creeping expansion” of the ski zone at the heart of National Park Pirin, which is a part of UNESCO’s World Natural Heritage. The bed capacity in Bansko has officially grown twice without taking into account the bed capacity in the nearby populated areas.

In the meantime, demands for a new gondola lift from Bansko to the ski zone have surfaced, as well as for the construction of two new ski zones – Kulinoto and Dorinishte - again in National Park Pirin, located on both sides of the Bansko ski zone. Since they will also be in violation of the Bulgarian and European legislation, the coalition “Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria” will oppose every attempt for their construction.

The concession for the Bansko ski zone is for tree felling and the construction of ski-runs and installations on an area of about 1,000 hectares. Calculations based on satellite photos show that right now the ski zone occupies a territory that is twice bigger because of the wider than permitted cuttings for ski-runs and lifts.

There is a danger that in addition to National Park Pirin, the “creeping expansion” would spread in Natural Park Vitosha. The concessionaire of the Bansko ski-zone is close to the owner of the ski installations in Vitosha, who doesn’t own, however, the ski-runs that are part of the state forest fund. In the fall of 2008, above Aleko were blasted and demolished stone rivers without a permission in order to build a new ski way.

Translated by: Margarita Petrova