Draft decision of 11-fold expansion of Bansko ski area – a gift for the oligarchy and end of the constitutional state

Tonight, nature advocates organize protests in 10 Bulgarian cities in defense of the “protected” areas, including Pirin National Park. Meeting points and starting hours can be followed at the end of the article.
Instead of termination of the concession contract and bearing responsibility of the concessioner Ulen SA and the responsible parties for the permission of illegal exceed of the concession area from 99,55 ha to 165 ha, governmental experts propose the Council of Ministers to expand the area 11 times in order to legalize all violations. The concession includes only project areas of ski runs and lifts, but now it is proposed to include also the forests in-between. As it is well known, the concessioner is closely linked to one of the big Bulgarian banks.
The disgraceful gift does not include, however, only the legalization of the illegally stolen area of Pirin National Park. The most significant difference between this draft decision and the one that the Plamen Oresharski’s government did not signed (and later torn by Boyko Borissov’s government) is that the concessioner gains infinite rights over the whole territory of Bansko ski area.
According to paragraph 2.1.4 of the draft decision it is allowed to increase the concession area 11 times – from 99,55 ha to 1069,58 ha. In this way, the concessioner is allowed to build not only one cable car, but to do building activities within the forests beneath mount Todorka in Pirin National Park. This opens up the possibilities for building up the whole North Pirin, considering also the investors’ and municipality’s pressure to build up 333 km new ski runs in Pirin.
Nature advocates remind that allowing such activities in Bansko ski area in Pirin National Park contradicts with the prohibition of paragraph 21 of the Preserved Areas Act. Moreover, the modification of the financial parameters of the concession is not based on an economic analysis that reflects the actual market conditions.
The draft decision of the Council of Ministers violates the competitors laws in Bulgaria and increases the monopoly positions of Ulen SA, as it replaces the competitive terms and conditions of the concession of year 2000.
According to the nature advocates, it is outrageous that the report, prepared by the interdepartmental working group at the Council of Ministers and based on which the draft decision for Bansko has been prepared, represents an extremely customized document.
Instead of analyzing the issues, raised by many experts within the working group in relation to the liability and ownership of the objects in Bansko ski area, the report imposes only arguments that aim at concealing the violations and the responsibilities of the blamed parties. It also aims at misleading the government and the society that there are obscurities and contradictions in the concession contract and the legislative framework.
An example is the relation to the repealed Ordinance for categorization of ski runs in order to justify the excessive expansion of ski runs (up to 3 times over the allowed by the Ministry of Environment and Waters at ski run Tomba). In parallel, the working group does not examine why all ski runs in the ski area have been in operation without being categorized (which is a violation of the Tourism Law).
Before taking any final decision on the Bansko ski area, coalition "Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria” invokes the government to:
1. Investigate the issues and signals for the violation of the concessions, raised by the experts of the interdepartmental working group and nature conservation organizations.
2. Indict the responsible parties in order to guarantee that the violations will not be repeated in the future and not only in Pirin, but in other Bulgarian protected areas.
3. Terminate the concession, if the violations are confirmed.
4. Organize open public discussion of the report and the draft decision of the Bansko ski area concession, in accordance with the requirements of the Council of Ministers’ regulations.
More information:
- Draft decision of the Council of Ministers for the modification of the concession contract of Bansko ski area
- Report of the interdepartmental working group, introduced by Marieta Nemska at the Council of Ministers for the modification of the concession contract of Bansko ski area
Follow the social media for updates on the protests tonight:
Sofia: https://www.facebook.com/events/389943701178204/
Varna: https://www.facebook.com/events/1553913444879510/
Vratsa: https://www.facebook.com/events/1575068866067354/
Petrich: https://www.facebook.com/events/1558901501029650/
Plovdiv: https://www.facebook.com/events/400789336757859/
Rousse: https://www.facebook.com/events/774770315951219/
Sliven: https://www.facebook.com/events/430719660424916/
Stara Zagora: https://www.facebook.com/events/1549222021995819/
Shipka and Pernik are also participating, but there are no facebook events available.