FIS WORLD CUP LADIES' TO TAKE PLACE IN A SKI RESORT BUILT IN VIOLATION WITH THE LAW

“The concerns we have with Bansko ski resort are endless”, Cveta Hristova
of Za Zemiata environmental association shares. “About two thirds of the
facilities in the resort are built without environmental permits or any
regard for the natural environment. The developer, the Bulgarian company
Yulen Shareholding received a concession for 100 hectars of the National
Park but deforested more than 250. The resort itself, is planned badly,
built quickly and continuously and unlawfully expanding. The erosion on
many of the ski pistes is severe, especially on the one, where the races
are going to take place,” adds Hristova.

During the last couple of years Bansko underwent explosive development, as
a results of which its accommodation capacity expanded by 14 000 beds, or
five times the size of the town in 2002. This expansion also violates the
resort environmental permit, allowing a maximum 2000 new beds. Many of the
newly built luxury apartments, however, were highly unprofitable due to
the lower levels of tourist flows than anticipated. The unsustainable and
badly planned growth of the town, coupled with the lack of proper
infrastructure, was one of the reasons for the sudden freeze in house
sales, which started about a year before the financial crisis.

At present, the Bulgarian First Investment Bank, the main developer of
Bansko Ski Zone, has openly revealed its ambitions to expand its business
in Vitosha mountain, located next to the city of Sofia. The company
“Vitosha Ski”, owned by the Bansko Ski Zone developer, plans to extend the
current ski resort in Vitosha and apply for the Youth Winter Olympic Games
in 2016 there. “The company has already started building a ski piste in
the nature park of Vitosha without any environmental permit, nor proper
Master Plan. This is a skill they perfectly mastered in Bansko ski resort
development and maintenance”, explains Katerina Rakovska of the WWF
Bulgaria.



Notes for the editor:

1. For images of Bansko ski zone during the summer please visit:
http://www.bluelink.net/savepirin/en/skiproblem.shtml?AA_SL_Session=c39c23ee0558971eaeafcc74e7a596b2&x=8304

2. For a detailed report of all legal, social and environmental concerns
of Bansko ski resort, please visit:
http://www.bluelink.net/savepirin/en/index.shtml

3. A recent documentary, produced by Za Zemiata environmental association,
presenting the development of Bansko ski zone:
http://forthenature.org/video/6