A call for support against the plans of the Bulgarian Government to open the door for unsustainable ski projects in Bulgarian National Parks

Till now, these restrictions, originating from the national Protected Areas Act and available in the
management plans of all national parks in Bulgaria, were the main legal instrument for the
preservation of ecosystems in those parks and a guarantee for the development of sustainable
forms of tourism. The new philosophy of the Government is, however, that the relevant
restrictions in the Management Plans and the Protected Areas Act should be removed so
that development projects in Protected Areas are not explicitly restricted by law but subject
to EIA procedures.

Those amendments were proposed by the investor in Bansko ski-zone in order to legalize the
numerous violations of the environmental law during the construction of the ski-zone and to
allow its further development. The amendments, however, pose a new threat to the unique
landscape of Pirin NP as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and will impede the development
of sustainable forms of tourism in Pirin Mountain. The amendments of the management plan
have not been subject to environmental assessments under SEA Directive and Habitats Directive.
In fact, the amendments allow activities which will negatively affect a number of habitats and
species listed in Annex I and II of the Habitats Directive.

Curiously, the proposal for the amendments is not supported by any tourism development
strategy, plan, vision or a cost-benefit analysis. Just the opposite, the proposed amendments are in
full contrast with the visions of the Management Plan of the park (2005-2014) and the Strategy
for the development of the sustainable tourism in Pirin National Park, which was prepared in
2011 with the financial support of UNESCO: http://pirin.bg/hcss/pdf/strategia.pdf.
On a national level nature protection NGOs are under the process of taking every possible step to
counteract further undermining the protection of Pirin NP with position papers, discussion tables,
press conferences, petitions and street protests. However, it is of utmost importance that
international institutions and organizations with responsibilities of the protection of nature in
Europe and global natural heritage should do their share.

What we call for is that the Bulgarian Government:
- stops the amendments of the Management Plan of Pirin National Park
- annuls the concession contract with Yulen JSC for the Bansko ski zone in Pirin NP.
- implements the Management plan of the Pirin NP and the Strategy for the development of
sustainable tourism in Pirin NP as part of the European environmental network NATURA
2000 and UNESCO World Natural Heritage site.

Based on the above, we therefore rely on you that you take urgent measures to put this issue
on the international agenda and exert pressureon the Bulgarian Government to terminate
the amendment procedure and guarantee that any amendment of the Management plan of
the protected area would be subject to the legally required strategic environmental
assessment procedures and thorough public consultations.
Should you wish to support us, please, send to the Bulgarian Government and the
Bulgarian President the letter enclosed.

Should you need any additional information, do not hesitate to turn to:
Alexander Dountchev adountchev@wwfdcp.bgand Katerina Rakovska krakovska@wwfdcp.bg,
WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme Bulgaria;
Andrey Kovatchev kovatchev6@gmail.com, Balkani Wildlife Society;
Petko Tsvetkov petko.tzvetkov@biodiversity.bg, Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation,
Sincerely yours,
Alexander Dountchev
Forest expert in WWF DCP Bulgaria


Background Information:
Bansko Ski Zone and Pirin National Park
Pirin National Park has unique natural resources such as 120 year old pine forests, including the
oldest tree on the Balkan peninsula – Baikushev's pine (approximate age of 1,300 years).
Since Bansko Ski Zone was established 10 years ago, environmentalists have been trying to draw
the attention of four successive governments to the destructive management of Pirin National Park.

Early days of the concession contract
In 2000, a public discussion on the report of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the
Territorial Development Project (TDP) for Bansko Ski Zone was held.
The proposed TDP envisaged a significant enlargement of the existing ski runs and facilities in
Pirin National Park. In the beginning of 2001, two days before leaving her post, the then
Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva gave a positive written statement on the EIA for Bansko
Ski Zone despite protests from environmental NGOs.

The concession contract for the ski zone in Pirin National Park was signed in 2001. The
concession rights were given to Yulen JSCo., whose present major shareholders are two offshore
companies and Bansko municipality.

The concession gave Yulen the right to build and use a ski zone covering 99.5 ha of exclusive
state land. National parks and reserves in Bulgaria represent exclusive state land and are the
territories most protected by law. Their entire ownership belongs exclusively to the state and
hence to the Bulgarian people.

Behind the scene – Yulen
The concession lets Yulen use the territory of Pirin National Park to build Bansko Ski Zone,
while Yulen must pay the state a fee in return. The fee is based on a percentage of the tickets and
cards sold for the facilities. The state has not established a way to verify the amount and Yulen
pays whatever it claims it has sold.

The ownership of Yulen is shared by two offshore companies and Bansko municipality. It is
considered that Yulen is connected to Tseko Minev – shareholder of First Investment Bank and
president of the Bulgarian Ski Federation. There is a common member of the boards of Yulen and
the company „Vitosha Ski“, which owns most of the lifts in Vitosha Nature Park and wants to
build a larger ski zone there.

In breach of the Management Plan for Pirin National Park
In 2004 the government adopted a Management Plan for Pirin National Park as each park must
have. The plans are valid for 10 years. The plan stated that Bansko Ski Zone could not be
enlarged more than what was envisaged in the 2001 concession contract.

In 2005, Bansko municipality adopted a Territorial Development Plan for Bansko Ski Zone,
which did not take into account the Management Plan of Pirin National Park and was actually
illegal. The plan provided Yulen with the grounds to build new ski runs and facilities. After 2010,
in violation of the Management Plan a biathlon stadium and a roller ski facility were constructed
and two lifts were replaced with longer ones.

UNESCO Heritage site
Pirin National Park was included in the List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites of
UNESCO in 1983. Because of Bansko Ski Zone and the continuing attempts for its enlargement,
UNESCO declared that either Bulgaria should guarantee that the construction of ski resorts in
Pirin National Park will be stopped or UNESCO will designate it as a world natural heritage site
in danger, which would have consequences for the image of Bulgaria. In 2010-2012, however,
UNESCO excluded the Bansko ski-zone from the property and allowed for new ski-facilities in
the park which was immediately used by the Government to justify new ski-developments in the National park.

The European Commission
In 2007 Bulgaria became a member of the European Union and Pirin National Park became a part
of the European environmental network NATURA 2000. The European Commission was
approached by Bulgarian environmental organizations on the matter of the illegal construction of
new ski runs and facilities in Pirin National Park. There is an ongoing investigation by the EC.
Minister Nona Karadzhova shocks Bulgaria

In 2009 an analysis of a satellite picture of the Bansko Ski Zone demonstrated that it exceeds the
territory designated by the concession twice. „For the Nature“ coalition sent a request to the
Ministry of Environment and Water to verify this information.

Nearly two years later, following mounting public pressure, the Minister of Environment and
Water Nona Karadzhova admitted that Yulen was using (i.e. had cut down and destroyed) a
territory larger – by about 65 ha - than the one designated by the concession of Bansko Ski Zone.
This makes around 40% of Bansko Ski Zone illegal.

So far, Nona Karadzova has not yet publicly announced the legal status of the ski-zone Bansko
and this is the reason the state is planning an amendment to the Management plan of Pirin NP and
the Protected Areas Act in order to legalize the extra 65 ha.
In 2013, the Government is urgently processing amendments in the Management of the Pirin
National Park in favour of the ski developers while it denies taking any official position on those
issues which impede the development of the sustainable tourism in Pirin National Park for more
than 10 years:

1. The Government is yet to provide a reasonable explanation what measures it will take to seek
accountability for the numerous violations of the Management plan of the Park, the Concession contract of
2001 and the EIA decision of 2000 for the Bansko ski-zone. All those have resulted in the recent years in
the irreversible loss of natural resources, incurable damage on the unique landscape of the Park and to
great disproportion between the capacities of the ski facilities and the hotels. The most scandalous
violations include:
- the construction or expansion of ski facilities not foreseen in those acts;
- the construction of ski facilities with methods forbidden by the EIA decisions;
- the overexploitation of areas in the park (at least 65 ha acc. to the MoEW and more than
100 ha acc. to NGOs analysis) beyond the area of 99,55 ha allowed by the Concession contract of 2001
and the Management plan of the Park;
- the enhancement of the capacity of the ski-facilities and that of the hotels in the city is in gross
breach of the prescription of the EIA decision.

2. The Government has not provided yet any explanation why the Concession contract is still not
terminated on the ground of all the violation of the national law listed above.
What is more, the Government supports amendments of the Management Plan of the park
which will not only legalize the violations, but will also lead to further unsustainable development of
the ski-zones in Pirin National Park and allow for further damages to the unique landscape of Pirin
National Park as WHS and the protected habitats and species in the Natura 2000 site "Pirin":
- the amendments of the management plan have not been subject to official public consultations;
- the amendments of the management plan have not been subject to strategic environmental
assessments, incl. Art. 6 (3) assessment on Natura 2000. In fact, the amendments allow activities which
will negatively affect a number of habitats and species listed in Annex I and II of the Habitats Directive
(see Annex 1 for more details);
- the gross misbalance between the capacity of the accommodation in the city of Bansko and the
capacity of the ski-facilities in the ski-zone is and will continue to increase uncontrollably with the
expressed support of the Minister of Economy.
- the city of Bansko does not have a Master Spatial Plan and the cumulative effect of the massive
urbanization in the city has never been subject to any environmental, social or economic assessments.
- the only strategic documents concerning the development of the tourism in the region of Pirin
National park are the Management Plan of the Park and the Strategy for the development of the
sustainable tourism in the park, however, they are fully ignored by the competent authorities.
Instead of enforcing the law in Pirin National Park, the Government misinterprets the main
legal documents which should guarantee the protection of Pirin National Park:
- while Art. 21 of the Protected Areas Act allows only the reconstruction of existing sport
facilitiesin the National parks, the Government argues that the ski facilities are not sport facilities but
should be treated as tourist infrastructure like the tourist trails, information boards and tourist shelters.
- while the Concession contract, the preceding decisions of the Council of Ministers and the
Management Plan of Pirin NP explicitly fix the built-up area of the ski-zone with all ski runs and facilities
at 99,55 ha, the Government argues that the concession area should include the whole tourist zone of the
Park above the city of Bansko, having an area of 1000 ha;
- while the Concession contract clearly needs tobe terminated, the Minister of environment
supports the opinion that there are no violations.
The Government makes selective use of the considerations of the World Heritage Centre of
UNESCO (WHC) to the problems with the protection of Pirin National Park and the sustainable
development of the tourism in the Park:
- on the one hand, the Government doesn't take into consideration all the recommendations of the
WHC in its last decisions3
and the findings of the WHC that "The tourism development within and around
the property has not been effectively controlled in the past including some areas that were developed
within the property and caused significant damage";
- on the other hand, the Government immediately abuses the soft position adopted by the WHC
and its retreat with respect to the protection of the world heritage site demonstrated in its last decision.

We should remind that Bansko ski-zone was excluded from the property in 2010 and included in a buffer
zone on the basis of the WHC’s conclusion that "the Outstanding Universal Value of the property has
been repeatedly and significantly impacted by the development of ski facilities and ski runs". This fact
seems already well concealed and forgotten by the Government, but more worryingly by the WHC. Thus
the further deterioration of the property, facilitated in 2012 when the WHC decided that new ski
developments could be allowed in the buffer zone of the property, materially contradicts the previous one.
Nevertheless, the decision of WHC is now the main argument of the Government to justify the
amendments concerned.