Alarming news during the week of January 7 to 13 accompanied the opening of the new ski run in Borovets, which was coupled with a new two-seat lift. It appears that it is not part of the projected Super Borovets, but is the first materialised step of Boricho winter resort located in the south-eastern area of Samokov. As reported by Bgp.bg, the resort’s construction started in 2006 and by the 20006/07 winter season it was ready to open, but was not put into operation due to the lack of snow. This is not going to be an obstacle for the local municipality anymore, as starting in 2009, it is planning the construction of artificial snow cannons there.

So nothing can stop the investors or even the state bodies, this time in the guise of Samokov municipality, which took part in the deal by offering up the land, while the company Boriko 2007 further built on it. The consortium is also planing another two ski pistes, a restaurant and a tearoom, as previously reported by The Sofia Echo.
Rila Mountain Range is, however, threatened on more than side.

On January 4, the American website Corp Watch (CW) published an article entitled Bulgarian Ski Complex Threatens Rila National Park, referring to the start of construction and road reconstruction in Rila Buffer Zone (www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14882). The road in question had so far been an unpaved track and connected the Panichishte area with the Seven Rila Lakes. It was possible to climb it only by foot or in a 4x4, the latter being, however, less common.

The site is mostly visited in the summer months by mountain trekkers. In recent years it has also been used for skiing and snowboarding, with the people going there leaning toward the adventurous, thus foregoing ski lifts. They climb the slopes surrounding the lakes and ski or snowboard down while enjoying the area’s tranquility.

However, investment interests have not missed this heavenly spot. They created the project Panichishte-Ezerata-Kabul, meant to enter Rila National Park and to connect the formerly small Panichishte resort with the Seven Rila Lakes area and Kabul Peak.

This shows utter disrespect towards Rila’s natural treasures, a disgraceful attitude to the country’s most unique nature site located in Bulgaria’s highest mountain.

Katherine Chandler, the author of the article published in CW, also sensed this when coming to Bulgaria for her research. She found herself in another awkward situation when a “few weeks ago” she and other journalists went to the site of the proposed $147 million project. “Suddenly, a group of men appeared and threatened to kill the activists. Shortly afterwards, police turned up. They said nothing to the thugs but warned the activists: ‘Next time we might show up too late.’ They then helped the thugs force the journalists and the activists back into their vehicles,” the article read.

So, who is guilty in this situation? Isn’t it the local municipality, which sold the land around Panichishte to the company Rila Sport, and of course co-ordinated the local police officers?

In addition, again foreigners are in on the deal: 99 per cent of Rila Sport belongs to Reelstone Trading Business Corporation, a company registered in the UK. However in Bulgaria, Rila Sport is represented by Slaviko Staikov and Tihomir Trendafilov, who own the remaining one per cent of the company.

So, here, on the one hand, we have Bulgaria’s Separeva Banya municipality, which is trying to crawl out from its poverty through denying national treasures and pride, and on the other we have the foreign investor interested only in multiplying his fortune. It is quite discouraging that most of the foreign investors have so little interest in the destiny of Bulgaria’s natural beauty. But it is nothing short of disaster that the locals are so unconcerned about preserving the beauty just above their heads, in the nearby mountain.