site.btaFormer Agriculture Minister Reports Suspected Illegal Logging in Smolyan

The Smolyan District Prosecutor’s Office has received an alert for illegal logging within the municipality’s territory, spokesperson Stancho Stanchev told BTA on Wednesday. The complaint was submitted by former acting Agriculture Minister Ivan Hristanov and forwarded by the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office to the local authorities for action.

At the same time, the Smolyan Regional Directorate of the Interior Ministry has launched a probe into suspected illegal logging near the village of Gela, according to Police Director Senior Commissioner Kostadin Pachedzhiev. An inspection carried out on May 15 uncovered 212 illegally cut Scots pine and spruce trees on municipally owned agricultural land. The trees lacked official municipal markings. Investigators also found 71 felled trees bearing unclear or unidentifiable marking signs.

Authorities seized a tractor, logging equipment, and a large quantity of timber discovered on a nearby property. Officials said there was no proof that the required permits for logging, storage, or transport of the wood had been issued. Representatives from the Regional Agriculture Directorate and the Regional Forestry Directorate took part in the inspection. Georgi Kodzhebashev, head of the agricultural authority in Smolyan, said the agency had received a report from prosecutors regarding possible illegal logging on agricultural land, but noted that it does not have the authority to suspend logging activities.

In late April, the Smolyan Regional Prosecutor’s Office ordered inspections into suspected illegal logging on municipal land near the villages of Gela and Kremene. The move followed an on-site inspection conducted on April 19 by then-acting Agriculture Minister Ivan Hristanov in the Kremene and Kartalov Kamak areas. Hristanov reported finding serious violations and evidence of unlawful destruction of forest vegetation, including logging on municipal land officially classified as pasture. He said the affected areas contained centuries-old trees and could not reasonably be described as scrubland or wasteland.