site.btaState Forestry Enterprises and Forest Agency Have No Agreements with NGOs, Agriculture Ministry Says

The state forestry enterprises and the Executive Forest Agency have not concluded agreements with non-governmental organizations regarding their supervisory activities, the Agriculture and Food Ministry told BTA on Wednesday. The statement came in connection with the activity of an NGO, the National Protected Areas Control Agency, which is believed to have used the Petrohan lodge as its base. 

The Petrohan lodge, where three people were found with gunshot wounds on February 2, is located within the State Forestry Enterprise - Godech territorial division, part of the Northwestern State Enterprise, said the Agriculture Ministry. Five forest rangers work in that division, the Ministry said. No reports have been received from the NGO in the Regional Forestry Directorates of Sofia and Berkovitsa, or in the State Forestry Enterprise - Godech division.

No reports of illegal logging in the area around the Petrohan lodge have been received since 2018. The Ministry further noted that the area is not considered a hotspot for illegal logging.

On February 5, former environment and water minister Borislav Sandov said it would be "extremely useful" for all tipoffs submitted to the authorities over the years by the National Protected Areas Control Agency to be made public, in order to identify any possible motives for retaliation against the organization. "Such tipoffs likely exist, especially in the areas of environmental protection and forest management," Sandov said in a social media post.

In 2022, the NGO signed a framework agreement with the Environment and Water Ministry for nature conservation in the area - at a time when Sandov himself headed the Ministry. It terminated the agreement in 2025.