Calendar

Rila and the ski resorts, Panichishte

The magnificient Seven Rila lakes under threat!

The Rila Mountains are home to one of the largest National Parks in Europe. It is a safeguarded place for national and world treasures – undisturbed wilderness, wild animals, and rare plants. People, for centuries, have lived in relative harmony with nature in the foothills of the mountains. That is, until recently.
Now, the area is rapidly changing with the arrival of offshore companies that plan to invest millions of euros in large-scale ski-resorts on the territory of Rila National Park.

On-site investigation started by the EC and EP!

The Rila National park

The Rila Mountains are home to one of the largest National Parks in Europe. It is a safeguarded place for national and world treasures – undisturbed wilderness, wild animals, and rare plants. People, for centuries, have lived in relative harmony with nature in the foothills of the mountains. That is, until recently. Now, the area is rapidly changing with the arrival of offshore companies that plan to invest millions of euros in large-scale ski-resorts on the territory of Rila National Park.


The project
Developers claim to "improve" the area with a well-organized system of ski slopes, which includes the region of Panichishte – Rila Lakes – Kabul Peak. The slopes will be in the location of the Seven Rila Lakes and will include more than 21 ski slopes and facilities on a total area of 240 hectares, two-thirds (160 hectares) of which are inside the National Park boundaries.

The investor
The investor is “Rila Sport,” a joint-stock company 99 % owned by Realstone Trade Business Corporation registered on the Virgin Islands, UK. No clear owner, no clear origin of money! The project is kindly supported by the mayor and administration of Sapareva Banya municipality. Rila sport aquires by illegal forest swaps ca. 45 ha of forests in Rila for 0,91 Euro/m2.

In addition to “Super Panichishte,” there are also plans to build “Super Borovets” by "Rila Samokov 2004," a joint-stock company – also owned by off-shore companies and foreign investors. Another project includes "Iskrovete," allegedly linked to the businessman Hristo Kovachki. According to local people, the ski resorts in the area of Samokov have been completely distributed among economic groups, political parties and leading businessmen.

As a result of the civil actions the case of illegal ski resorts in Rila Mountain was investigated on terrain by the EU parliament itself. See Gallery.

Details

An apparent calm before the storm of development lasted about a year, providing developers an opportunity to restructure in face of heightened environmental pressure. While environmentalists battled for NATURA 2000 and sought alternatives to ski resorts projects, a flurry of illegal construction was planned in the Rila Area. Although, the Rila National Parks achieved international acclaim for its efforts to promote wilderness and sustainability, the local and national authorities did not seem to care.

Three days after a big festival for ecological alternatives called "Zelenyada" ("Green Olympics") and while civil actions for Strandzha were in full swing, the director of Rila National Park was fired. This was a slap in the face for green activists. It was a clear demonstration that executive power in Bulgaria is not concerned with environmental protection or sustainability. This case brought Rila into the focus of public attention. In the words of Tsveta Hristova, it is evident that the axe is ready to come down on Rila.

The first step was the illegal approval of a Detailed Spatial Plan for the non-existent “village” of Panichishte. This allows for the approval of the General Spatial Plan for the whole resort "Panichishte – The Rila Lakes – Kabul Peak.” Large-scale hotel construction is pending and the preparatory stage includes widening of the highways leading to Sapareva Banya to Panichishte and upwards to Pionerska Chalet. Cables and pipes are being put in place. The foundations of a hotel above Pionerska Chalet are currently being dug out. The cable lift from Pionerska to the Lakes is also being built.

The investor has taken, under lease from the tourist society in Dupnitsa, chalets at the Rila Lakes and Skakavitsa - allegedly, through coercion and under unfavorable for the society terms. In addition, locals claim that the investor has bought a third chalet – Otovitsa. Since the investing company has been responsible for taking care of the Rila Lakes there have been numerous and outrageous violations of legislation and the Park Management Plan. One example is the careless and uncontrolled usage of sledges, motorbikes and SUVs in the Seven Rila Lakes areas.

If we do not counteract this destruction, the environmental devastation in Bansko will occur again. Investors cut the trees, build in protected areas and destroy irreplaceable ecosystems. Will we again wait until it is too late to begin asking questions?


What you can do:

*send your suggestions about possible action steps to: cveta.hristova@gmail.com

*write to the mayor of Sapareva Banya (sap_oba@abv.bg); to the Minister of the Environment and Waters (mivanova@moew.government.bg)

Reports on Panichishte
reports or complaints on violations of the law in Panichishte area in the municipalities of Spareva Banya and Dupnitza, please send to:
rila (AT@) forthenature.org

Svejo Edno23 Lubimi Pipe.bg Ping.bg Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Digg Delicious Stumbleupon

10317 visits