Somehow, partial information about the organization's activities at the former Petrohan hut is very conveniently 'dropped' to the media, often with the aim of making suggestions about the group and third parties who interacted with them in one way or another. And since my name is most often commented on among these third parties, it seems important to me to tell about one of my visits to the former hut.
This is what Borislav Sandov wrote on "Facebook".
It was an extremely hot week in the summer of 2023. The day before, the temperature in Sofia had reached 38 degrees. I decided that I had to take my family out of the city and seek coolness in the mountains. I thought of Petrokhan and its beautiful forests. I called Ivaylo Ivanov from the National Agency for the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment and asked if we could visit them. Ivaylo was delighted and said that they were up there and that he would be happy to see us.
Soon after arriving, we headed to the area of the Nishava River springs at the foot of Mount Kom - a place that I had not visited, but which attracted my attention because of a diversion (a hydrotechnical facility that diverts water from this watershed and transfers it to the Petrokhan cascade) and because of the potential for creating a new protected area in this area. It was a day full of beautiful views and positive emotions, but its end was marred by something that was happening in the National Assembly.
The DPS was trying to push through an amendment to the Forestry Act in the last week before the summer vacation of the deputies.
In a meeting of the relevant committee, which lasted until late in the evening, the amendments were adopted. In the morning, we began feverish work on drafting an open letter to the National Assembly and coordinating support actions to prevent the final adoption of the amendments to the Forestry Act, which would allow much greater logging and much more wood for buying votes.
We had only one day to react, because the next day would be the vote in the plenary hall. It was also a good coincidence that there was another guest in the hut, who also helped a lot in the process.
This was Assen Assenov. The whole day was spent in communication and coordination, and in the late afternoon we sent the letter and in the evening we returned to Sofia. The next day, the vote in the plenary hall did not receive a majority for the changes to the Forestry Law.
Peevski and Borisov were furious, the deputies went on vacation and another attempt by the timber mafia had failed. And for me, the satisfaction of another won battle remained, which I will associate precisely with that place and that porch where I spent the whole day.
The photo below was taken right after we sent the open letter signed by prominent figures.
Open letter to the members of parliament on the amendments to the Forestry Act
Dear Members of Parliament,
We are addressing you on the occasion of the upcoming vote on the amendment to the Forestry Act on July 28, 2023, with an appeal to reject the proposals for changes approved by the Committee on Agriculture and Food at its midnight meeting in the late hours of July 26.
The amendment to the Forestry Act enables the local population in each forestry to obtain a certain amount of wood from state or municipal forests at fixed (low, non-market) prices, which will lead to an increase in logging in Bulgaria in the coming years. This legal option is a remnant of the years after 1912, when, in order to support the population of the newly annexed territories, it was allowed to use wood from state forests at a low rate in order to avoid hunger and poverty at that time. This option, with the increase in the well-being of the population, has been limited over the years and today has acquired a completely different character. This is not assistance for socially disadvantaged households, but the law allows it for each of the 2.86 million households in our country. Energy assistance for the socially disadvantaged is already subject to the Regulation on the terms and procedure for granting targeted assistance for heating.
The assistance provided through wood to the local population does not only apply to firewood, but to any wood, including large construction wood. This is how it is used by those entitled to it. We do not want to enter into the dispute whether the quantity for one household should be 10 spatial, 10 dense or 15 dense cubic meters of wood, because the state cannot fulfill this commitment to all its citizens. And this is very clear. Even with the lowest quantity of 10 spatial cubic meters of wood, at the national level the size of the legal commitment reaches 17 million dense cubic meters of wood, which is two and a half times more than the entire timber harvest in Bulgaria.
It is clear that only in municipalities with a high concentration of forests and a small number of inhabitants can the commitment given by law be achieved, and this represents real discrimination against households on the basis of place of residence. A separate issue is that there is a lot of data that speaks of abuse and political use of this opportunity by mayors, and this strengthens the feudalization of small municipalities.
We are addressing you because the Constitution obliges you to represent not only your voters, but the entire Bulgarian people. We are addressing you with an appeal not to accept the proposed amendments to the Forestry Act, which will deepen the discrimination between rural and forest municipalities in Bulgaria, but instead to put the system of energy subsidies on a sound basis. Let the assistance to socially disadvantaged and energy-poor households not go through the Forestry Act, but through the Regulation on the terms and procedure for granting targeted heating assistance. Adopt a definition of energy poverty and plan measures to improve energy efficiency, so that homes require fewer energy resources for heating. This way you will actually help these households and at the same time allow the Bulgarian forest to perform its water protection and ecological functions more effectively.
The Bulgarian forest indeed requires urgent legislative changes, but they should be aimed precisely at improving its condition in the context of climate change and new European forest management policies, such as the Nature Restoration Act proposed by the European Commission.
SIGNED BY:
Aglika Krushovenska, communications specialist
Albena Simeonova, member of parliament in the 45th, 46th and 48th National Assembly
Andrey Kovachev, Balkani Association
Andrey Ralev, CEE Bankwatch Network
Andrey Paunov, film director
Assen Assenov, director of the ONE Foundation for Culture and Arts and co-founder of BIG PULSE DANCE ALLIANCE
Borislav Sandov, Member of Parliament in the 45th and 46th National Assembly, former Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policy and Minister of Environment and Water
Vera Staevska, Green Laws Initiative
Veselina Kavrakova, Director of WWF Bulgaria
Prof. Evgeniy Dainov, Political Scientist
Prof. Evelina Kelbecheva, American University in Bulgaria
Georgi Gospodinov, Writer
Prof. Dimo Dimov, Pianist
Ekaterina Boncheva, Journalist
Ivaylo Ivanov, NACPZ, Representative of Europark in Bulgaria
Irina Nedeva, Journalist
Kamen Kalev, Film Director
Meglena Antonova, Director of “Greenpeace” - Bulgaria
Mira Staleva, cultural manager, member of the board of the European Film Academy
Prof. Nelly Ognyanova
Nikola Rahnev, Foundation “Gorata.bg”
Prof. Nikolay Maistorov, artist
Pencho Pandakov, Balkanka Association
Petko Tsvetkov, Balkani Association
Rumyana Ivanova, Executive Director “Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation”
Sasha Bezuhanova, founder of MOVE.BG and initiator of the coalition “For a Green Restart”
Prof. Stella Dimitrova, pianist
Toma Belev, expert in forest policies, former Deputy Minister of Environment and Water