Changes to the Forest Act were published in State Gazette on 7 August 2012, following several months of public debate, protests, counter-protests and a veto by the Bulgarian President.
The most controversial change is the right to build stations and poles of existing ski lifts and drag lifts (including their repair, reconstruction, change or modernization) on plots within forest territory without needing to change the designation of the land, which can be granted by the Minister of Agriculture and Food for a term of up to 20 years. The lifts must be ‘tolerable constructions’ under the Spatial Development Act, meaning that they were lawfully built before 7 April 1987 in accordance with the laws in force at the time of their construction but do not have a construction file.
The initial draft of the changes would have allowed any ski runs and ski facilities to be constructed on forest land without needing to change the designation of the land and would also have given third parties the right to build on public land without tender and for an indefinite period. This led to a huge public outcry from individuals and environmental organisations who believed that this would lead to over-exploitation of forest resources and protected areas. Counter-protests were then organised in support of investors and developers of ski tourism. The final version of the changes is a compromise negotiated by the public authorities and the protestors to balance these opposing interests.
The changes also permit the re-designation of forest land to develop new regulated land plots or expand existing ones where there is an effective development plan – either a detailed one (for projects to provide residential social services and social services by specialist institutions) or a general one (in other cases). For the first time, the changes allow the designation of land to be changed for plots in territory where no general development plan is in place.
New powers have also been given to the executive director of the Executive Forest Agency, who can now dispose gratuitously with movable state property (something that could previously only be done by the Minister of Agriculture and Food).
There are also new rules governing the use, harvesting, sale and purchase of timber. This includes giving the additional right to sell up to 10% of their annual stock of standing timber on roots to the state enterprises managing state forests (which can already sell or harvest up to 25% of their annual timber stock to merchants).
There is also an express ban on using of unprocessed timber from large and middle categories of construction timber for the production of electricity from biomass. This means that energy from biomass can be legally produced from small construction timber.
