Bulgarian daily Dnevnik said on July 27 that the Minister of Environment and Water Affairs Djevdet Chakurov would extend the ban on construction and other activities in the region of Irakli-Emine with one year. The current ban was set to expire on August 14 2008.

The ban would affect an area of nearly 38 million sq m, the ministry said.

The new extension would make construction in the area impossible for the third consecutive year, Dnevnik said.
The ban on construction in the area was first ordered after protests from environmentalists against the construction of vacation complexes in the Irakli area in 2006.

As a reason for the new extension on the ban, the ministry said that the area included two areas protected under Natura 2000. The areas were the Emine area for the protection of wild birds and the Emine-Irakli area for the protection of natural habitat and wild flora and fauna.

For both areas special measures would be announced to safeguard the protection of species and their habitats, Dnevnik said.

Environmentalists had filed complaints against planned construction in the area with the European Commission (EC). However, in June of this year, the EC decided that the construction would legal and that it did not have the competence to take legal action against Bulgaria. A final decision of the EC to discontinue its work on the case is expected in September, Dnevnik said.