Bulgaria Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Vitosha Ski Tracks

Society » ENVIRONMENT | April 30, 2010, Friday // 18:13
Bulgaria Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Controversial Ski Tracks: Bulgaria Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Vitosha Ski Tracks The company “Vitosha Ski” was given permission by Bulgaria’s Supreme Court to build ski tracks and facilities in the Vitosha Mountain, favorite leisure and tourism spot for Sofia residents and guests. File Photo

Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) ruled Friday to revoke the decision of Environment Minister, Nona Karadzhova, related to the project to build a new ski zone in the Vitosha Mountain near Sofia.

In October, Karadzhova annulled the positive assessment the expert council at the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Waters (RIOSV) which gave green light to the company “Vitosha Ski” to build new ski tracks and tourist facilities in the mountain.

The main motives stated for the Minister’s decision were the lack of sound justification for the plan's approval, existing possibilities for the builder to change the location of the tracks and the facilities, missing assessment of the compatibility of different investment intentions, contradictions with established construction regimes, ambiguity regarding taking into consideration public opinion about the project.

Karadzhova, at the time, returned the project for reevaluation.

Vitosha Ski” appealed and VAS ruled on Friday in their favor, saying the Minister did not have any legal ground to annul the positive assessment.

Karadzhova interfered after the State Forestry Agency, the Director of the “Vitosha Natural Park” at the Agency, the Association “Vitosha Ski and Snowboard Schools” and the WWF Danube-Carpathian Program complained about the RIOSV opinion.

The VAS magistrates said all of the above did not have the right to file claims because they are not an interested party, but a participant in the administrative part of the project.

The VAS magistrates’ team was led by Judge, Andrei Ikonomov, a despised figure by Bulgaria’s environmentalists. In 2006 Ikonomov allowed a company to build a vacation village on the Black Sea cost by striking the protected area known as “Kamchiya Sands.”

In 2007, the same judge was involved in the case of the nature park “Strandzha” when a VAS team ruled the order to declare the area a protected park invalid, triggering mass protests and leading to legislative changes postulating that such orders declaring protected territories can not be appealed and the “Strandzha” case was dismissed.

Bulgarian environmentalists already announced they are staging protest rallies in downtown Sofia over the Friday VAS decision about Vitosha.

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Tags: Nona Karadzhova, Vitosha, ski tracks

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