When the Mayor of Varna Blagomir Kotsev decides to do his job, then the people of "Baba Alino" will be left without homes. This was said in the program "Face to Face" on bTV by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Plamen Abrovski.
In the area of "Baba Alino" near Varna, the removal of the illegally built fence in a forest area has begun. The facility includes a metal structure and advertising vinyls, which were also dismantled.
„Employees from the Regional Forestry Directorate - Varna and employees of the State Forestry - Varna went and started the removal of an incorrectly and illegally placed fence facility in a property that is a forest“, explained Abrovski.
According to the minister, by law, fence facilities cannot be placed in a forest. „What we did was simply to comply with the law. That is why I want to congratulate everyone who is there“.
He explained that the removal will be at the expense of the person who placed the fence. „The person who placed it is clearly indicated in the compulsory administrative measure. He knows and this will be at his expense“.
“The legal entity has received its documents and correspondence is ongoing“, Abrovski emphasized.
According to him, for the first time since this complicated case was worked on, government representatives are doing their job as assigned. “The main fault lies in the fear and lack of commitment of the heads of the departments involved“, he believes.
“If I had not personally appeared at the RDG-Varna and the DGS-Varna to instill confidence that none of them would be held accountable - regardless of whether officially or unofficially, this would hardly have happened. The same thing happened with all other institutions“, commented Abrovski.
According to him, when the managements of the institutions do not undertake to implement the law and guarantee their employees that they will be protected and will remain at work, then such illegal constructions occur.
“I am a lawyer by profession and I am somewhat familiar with the “Baba Alino“ case, and I was with the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov the first time we reviewed the documents“, he explained.
“When we were removing these fences in one of the many properties that are being built on and which continue to be forest, it suddenly turned out that a certificate of tolerance had been issued. How did it appear when there were only concrete foundations there?“, he asked.
Abrovski emphasized that a tolerance certificate is issued for a building that was built and was in operation before 2001. “After that, it can be changed. But when you don't have such a building, when you see that there are excavation activities in the forest, when you do something new, what kind of tolerance certificate are we talking about?“.
“If the victims had hired me as a lawyer, I wouldn't have let them buy these properties. I would have refused to represent them, because in my opinion this is a farce. When the mayor of Varna decides to do his job, then these people will simply be left without homes“, he believes.
Abrovski is sure that his ministry will deal with illegal logging and torrents. “Currently, there is no logging because there is no price for wood. This is a very big economic problem for both our processors, as well as for the logging companies and for state-owned enterprises“.
“The state expelled a huge processing plant in the town of Stamboliyski, another plant also closed. The state also lost a large processor in Veliko Tarnovo. There is currently a crisis on the wood market“, he commented.
Abrovski also shared more about the initiative “Basket with Care“. “It is a commitment that we have made in our election program. Finally, someone must show solidarity and social responsibility towards the most vulnerable people - pensioners and the socially disadvantaged“.
“This initiative is not only that. It also represents a strategic partnership with retail chains, with which almost no one has worked over the years. The goal is to show together that we care about people, citizens and consumers," he added.