THE PROS AND CONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SKI RESORT IN PANICHISHTE REGION

* Advantages of the construction of a ski resort at the Lakes
+ Gondola lift: more people will have access to the Lakes and will get to know the unique beauty of the region
+ New beautiful places for skiing and snowboarding
+ Bulgaria - a desired tourist destination for foreigners - revenue from tourism

* Disadvantages from the construction of a ski resort and a gondola lift at the Lakes
- The gondola lift does not bring revenue to the State, because the private firm “Rila Sport” and Sapareva Banya municipality own it. It may eventually bring in some taxes, but only after the investment pays off and Rila Sport begins to profit, that is after years. On the contrary, the State loses - from concession fees, which the state would be collecting if it gives it out as a concession of state property.
- Breaching the law - the gondola lift and the ski runs are illegal, because they have not passed the required procedure by law for assessment of the impact on the environment
- The gondola lift has not passed the required by DАМТН technical tests before entering into exploitation.
- The lower gondola lift station is situated on a landslide
- If this gondola lift begins operation in spite of the numerous breaches of the law, this will be one more example that in Bulgaria bribes open all doors - a bad example for the civil society, and good for people who would want to take advantage
- The gondola lift will facilitate tourists to ski on the territory of National Park Rila, without whatever concession right being established.
- The Seven Rila Lakes are part of National Park Rila - a territory designated for conservation of valuable biological diversity of wild nature, with one of the highest degrees of protection by the Bulgarian law.
- The gondola lift is not set up to facilitate random tourists in their climbing of the mountain, but it is envisaged as a large-scale project for a ski resort.
The influx of mass of people to the Lakes will compromise the fragile eco systems of this unique place (see http://en.forthenature.org/faq/1/)
Bringing down forests and construction works will ruin them, as it happened in Bansko - in National Park Pirin.
- Cutting down forests in the national park - this concerns valuable forests of centuries-old trees, for whose recovery will be needed tens of years - this loss cannot be calculated in terms of cut-down area percentage (see http://en.forthenature.org/faq/5 and http://en.forthenature.org/faq/17)
- Not only the area of cut-down forest matters. The ski runs form a large "closed" area, which can no longer be inhabited by wild animals and birds (see http://en.forthenature.org/faq/7)
- The forests render a milder climate - cutting down forests in National Park Rila will affect adversely climate change in the region of Bulgaria
- Forests purify air - compromising National Park Rila will result in less clean air in Bulgaria
- National Park Rila provides potable water - compromising the Park will reduce the quantity of clean potable water, which at the moment the mountain supplies
- Cutting down a considerable portion of trees and making cross cuts in the mountain increases the drainage of the water and reduces retention of water, which leads to conditions for floods and droughts in the foot of the mountain
- The usage of artificial snow pollutes water and soil. Water from Mountain Rivers is used for its production (see http://en.forthenature.org/faq/4)
- New landslides appear
- Pollution of the mountain with waste

Data from the economic study
- The direct losses from the destroyed environment, related to the construction of the resort, amounts to 120 million euro at least. The indirect losses are several times more, and they can always be calculated
- The end buyer/investor in apartments in the region will also lose (a sure and considerable loss)
- The end owner of the facilities will lose as well
- The State loses
- The only one, which will eventually make profit, is the company, which constructs cheaply, inflates the prices for foreigners, and then quickly is sold. But this will be less likely, in view of the economic crisis
- The resort is not profitable, and is not expected to receive more tourists than in Bansko

Translation from Bulgarian: Tsvetan Ivanov