A new illegal road and hotel were being constructed in Rila national park under Moussala peak, the highest point in Bulgaria, To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria coalition and Citizens for Rila said on July 11.

“The road would allow hotel guests to reach the new, as yet unfinished, Moussala hut in their four-by-fours and cars. Its construction started in the 1980s but was frozen soon after the fall of communism,” the environmentalists’ media statement said.

The construction of road and hut is in contradiction with the management plan of Rila national park, the Protected Areas Act, Environment Protection Act, Spatial Development Act, and the European Union’s Habitats Directive and Birds Directive, the media statement said.

“Companies, which are close to the governing bodies, had taken on lease the existing (old) Moussala hut by threats and force. They are probably connected to the Bulgarian Tourists Union’s managing board chaired by Kostadin Paskalev, as well as with the head office of the (political party) Movement for Rights and Freedoms,” Citizens for Rila said.

The coalition of 30 non-governmental organisations To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria and Citizens for Rila will go to Rila national park and film the construction on July 12, and on July 13 the environmentalists will visit the area of Panichishte, which is in another Rila national park area and is also threatened by construction of a new ski zone, the media statement said.

Approached for a comment by The Sofia Echo on July 11, the Rila national park administration was not available for comment.