Bulgaria Govt OKs Construction in Protected Area on Black Sea Coast

Society » ENVIRONMENT | March 20, 2014, Thursday // 12:28
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Govt OKs Construction in Protected Area on Black Sea Coast Photo by vesti.bg

Bulgaria's government approved Wednesday construction works in the Karadere area on the Black Sea coast.

The Cabinet backed a memorandum with the company Madara Europe, represented in Bulgaria by offshore company Rainbow Malta Limited, according to reports of Sega daily.

The company plans to invest over BGN 100 M in three hotels and three public service areas in the area.

The project is to create 500 jobs in the municipality.

Environmentalists are organizing a protest over the memorandum Wednesday at 6pm in front of the Council of Ministers building in Sofia.

A media statement of the government informs that the memorandum entitles the investor to fast-track administrative service and institutional support from an inter-ministerial working group under the Investment Promotion Act.

The InvestBulgaria Agency is to award Madara Europe an A-class investor certificate on the basis of the memorandum, as a result of which the company will be granted financial advantages.

In mid-2013, Madara Europe renewed efforts to fulfill its intentions of building a holiday complex worth EUR 220 M in the area.

In its initial form, the project known as Black Sea Gardens, envisaged construction works on a plot of around 700 decares in the Karadere area and the construction of a holiday village with 5000 apartments and villas with a bed capacity for 15 400.

In May 2011, the environmental inspectorate in Burgas approved the project, but environmentalists lodged a complaint with the Environment Minister, claiming that the inspectorate's statement was flawed.

Under the initial version of the project, the investment was to amount to around EUR 1 B.

The initial project was drafted by the world-famous architectural firm Foster + Partners in cooperation with architect Georgii Stanishev, brother of former Prime Minister and socialist leader Sergey Stanishev.

The project has been reworked and now spans a gross floor area of 210 decares. It envisages the construction of 1200 separate housing units with an average size of around 120 square meters of gross floor area.

The Karadere area is part of the Natura 2000 network, in the protected area Kamchiyska Planina, for the conservation of bird species and protected area Shkorpilovtsi Beach for the conservation of the conservation of natural habitats, wild flora and fauna.

The government's decision clashes with the stance of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which submitted to Parliament a draft memorandum on banning construction works on Black Sea coast areas in 2013.

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Tags: Black Sea coast, Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, NATURA 2000, protest, protected area, Bulgarian government, InvestBulgaria Agency

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