Vitosha Ski, the main concessioner on Vitosha Mountain and the ski schools, are involved in a legal battle over what ski schools regard as "gross discrimination".

Representatives from ski schools are set to file a joint declaration in which they demand that Vitosha Ski compensate them financially for the "grossly inflated" prices they are forced to pay.

The Commission for Protection of Competition in turn confirmed at the end of January 2010 that there were "discrepancies" in the price list for customers and ski instructors.

"The price list says that the daily pass cost 35 leva and the annual pass 590 leva for tourists. When we wanted to purchase them, however, we were told that there was a 'decree' whereby instructors are to pay 50 leva for a daily pass and 2000 leva for an annual pass," Asparouh Machirski, head of Machirski Ski School was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on February 1 2010.

Vitosha ski said they would appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court against the ruling of the Commission for Protection of Competition.

"Yes there is discrimination – but it is reverse discrimination. The discrimination is against our clients, the regular tourists, who come here from time to time to ski on our facilities, while the ski instructors and their students cause a lot more wear-and-tear on the equipment. It is only natural that regular clients are to pay less," Vitosha Ski CEO Georgi Bobev, told the Bulgarian National Television on February 1 2010.

Reportedly, Vitosha ski agreed on a compromise and offered the ski instructors annual ski passes for 800 leva, a considerable drop from the current price of 2000 leva, which the instructors refused, demanding that they are charged the same as tourists.

During a press conference in November 2009, Machirski accused Vitosha Ski of monopoly.

In response to his accusations, Vitosha Ski released a statement on their website at the time, saying "he (Machirski) ought to hang his head in shame".

"As far as he is concerned, gone are the days when he could use state property for free, supposedly for the interest of children, and still claim educational and training benefits and get away with it. These are arduous times for Machirski, as he finally realised he needs to work in a market economy – and that is precisely why he is being discriminated against – he can complain to anyone he likes."

Vitosha Ski also focused its anger on Toma Belev’s management, the Vitosha Nature Park’s director. The company demanded answers from the authorities, claiming that Belev and Machirski worked in tandem in which one party always defended the actions of the other, receiving in turn "a portion of the park".

Regarding illegal construction in the park, however, Belev said that there are no such cases of illegal allocation of facilities and illegitimate appropriation of land. He "would support any company that desired to conduct rehabilitation and modernisation work with the existing facilities, or construct new ones for that matter, but "only if the concession is done legally with appropriate documentation".