The war against the wood mafia in Koprivshtitsa was started by the MP from „We continue the change“ Alexander Dunchev and the municipal councilor from BSP Dimitar Vatahov. On Facebook, the MP announced that while some were shaking the government, the two joined forces and began to unravel a signal of violations with the help of the Forest Agency.
„We visited dozens of clearings in two days in municipal and state forests, as well as in forested private lands. And everywhere the same – illegal logging of hundreds of cubic meters of pine and beech, part covered with counterfeit stamps, including in forests without a current logging permit and in water supply areas. And while the inspections were underway, some of the illegal timber that had to be confiscated was stolen before our eyes.
In Koprivshtitsa, the state has apparently abdicated! Not to mention the municipality!“, Dunchev commented and asked how this was possible.
The tracks lead to the largest and only forest entrepreneur in Koprivshtitsa, who holds over 70% of the logging in the municipality – a former municipal councilor from GERB, said the MP, revealing:
„Two weeks ago, his truck with 25 m3 of illegal beech logs was detained. But we will never know how many more illegal trucks he brought into his shop, because the camera has been turned off for months, probably the GPS devices of the trucks – due to the lack of inspections, of course! The most deplorable situation was in the municipal forests, where the director was nominated personally by the forest feudal lord.“
4 signals for established schemes were submitted to the Forest Agency, namely:
- The first signal – you can see HERE.
- The second signal – you can see HERE.
- The third signal – you can see HERE.
- The fourth signal – you can see HERE.
According to Dunchev, the inspections will most likely end with one or two acts for 1000-2000 levs against the background of the stolen millions per year. He recalls that this happened in 2021 after a similar inspection. Dunchev summarizes:
“Therefore, a real change in the forests will require an independent forest system that is not subject to local feudal lords and party headquarters. Expect our proposals soon!”
