The Bulgarian government and environmental protesters have reached a partial agreement on the country's controversial forestry act, Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov stated on Friday.

A consensus has been agreed upon three of the four debated issues, according to Naydenov. However, the parties have not reached an agreement concerning the most important one – the planned construction of ski tracks and lifts without changing the land use.

"I believe we have had an active dialogue and I hope that dialogue would yield results by Monday," the Agriculture Minister said, calling upon protesters to act in a reasonable manner.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria's Parliament passed conclusively amendments to the controversial Forestry Act allowing the construction of ski tracks and lifts without changing the status of the land.

More than 2000 gathered Wednesday evening at the area of Orlov Most (Eagles Bridge) in downtown Sofia to protest the passing of the amendments. The demonstrators blocked traffic on the city's main thoroughfare "Tsraigradsko Shosse" by sitting on the road. This triggered direct clashes with riot police. The activists rallied without a permit since the protest was organized through the social network Facebook. 12 people were arrested.

A second day of protests was held at the same place on Thursday under a substantially increased police presence.

Thursday's rallies led to the arrest of 12 environmentalists, which were fined with BGN 100 for noncompliance with police instructions.

Friday is expected to see a third protest.

The protesters are seeking a presidential veto on the amendments.

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