I wouldn't assume that the people from "Petrohan" would commit any crime. I haven't seen weapons and I didn't know that these people have them. This was stated in the program "Na Fokus" on Nova TV by the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Water Borislav Sandov.
"I knew the people from the "Petrohan" hut. Maybe not all of them, because I have only met some of them once. But I have seen Ivaylo Ivanov (ed. note. one of those killed near Petrohan") several times - once in the ministry, once at an event and most recently - a month and a half ago, at the big protests. We bumped into each other by chance," he emphasized.
And he specified that "he did not know these people before 2022." "Then, purely professionally, Ivaylo Ivanov came to the Ministry with an invitation to hold a meeting. He offered cooperation, since they had already organized their base as an organization and had equipment that could contribute to environmental protection in this area. No one recommended it to me. The meeting took place through the channels," Sandov emphasized.
According to the former Minister of Environment, he did not refuse meetings with NGOs working to protect the environment.
"I have refused meetings with lobbyists," he explained. And he emphasized that he knew from the very beginning that it was a non-governmental organization and that it in no way performed state functions. "I had no illusions. The court is the one that registers the organizations and has no right to refuse, except in explicitly specified cases", he specified.
Regarding the agreement concluded with the “National Agency for Control of Protected Areas“, he explicitly emphasized that it was a “handshake“ for a common idea - to protect nature. "This is a piece of paper, without rights, without obligations, without a financial element. It could not be used to apply for funding. I categorically say: the state was neither harmed nor involved in illegal activity", he emphasized.
In Sandov's words "he does not believe that the people at "Petrohan" have committed any crime".
"They mentioned to me that there were attempts to terminate the agreement and that they were being bombarded with inspections. They filed reports - about dumps, illegal logging, fires, poaching. They participated in extinguishing fires. I have heard about threats from their relatives, not from them personally. If they filmed something with a drone, that could be a motive," he explained.