Bulgaria Ski discussion board

The next mountain spot in Bulgaria
09:00 Mon 10 Sep 2007

There are plans for a grandiose tourist complex in Bulgaria’s biggest Rhodopi Mountain, where the the former biggest Balkan ski resort Pamporovo can also be found. The project, called Perelik, is planned to be constructed at the foot of the highest Rhodopian peak, Perelik, and consists of 200 km ski runs and about 100 km of ski lifts, Bulgarian-language Standart reported.

On August 29, Smolyan municipal councillors voted on, and approved, the establishment of a mixed company between STC Perelik AD and the municipality, which is expected to give its share of land to the new enterprise.

The construction works under Perelik are planned to start in the autumn of 2007 and will take about six years. The councillors said only ski runs and lifts would be constructed, not huge concrete buildings and heavy infrastructure. Only four restaurants are planned, which is, however, hardly possible when setting up tourism infrastructure of such a size. The project is estimated at more than 300 million euro.

The sports complex is planned to be spread over the villages of Stoikite, Gela, Solishta, Stikul and Mugla. Gela and Mugla are traditional Bulgarian Rhodopi villages that have thousands of visitors during the annual fairs and are famous for gifted folk singers and unspoilt nature.

Private land owners, from the village of Mugla, started protesting against the Perelik project. They said the planned tourism centre had “swallowed” their lands, which had not been returned to them.

Environmental organisations also alarmed, they are worried about the future of Rhodopi Mountain. In the beginning of 2007, the Government excluded large areas of the planned ski complex from the Natura 2000 list. In addition, the environmentalists are asking what the consequences for the region’s water supplies will be as 16 lake are planned to be dug as part of the artificial snow facilities. The weather over the past winters did not provide sufficient snow for skiing in the area. The environmentalists also said they worried that the mountain has been bought by Asian companies.

The idea for the Perelik complex was an old one, the Smolyan municipal councilors said. The realisation of the project was now in the hands of the Smolyan businessman Kiril Assenov, who was the first blinds producer in Bulgaria and is one of the biggest entrepreneurs in the Rhodopi region. He owns the company Areksim, which now deals in garden furniture production, blinds, machine building and CD devices. Assenov has also, reportedly, been connected to the National Movement for Stability and Progress party and to Simeon Saxe-Coburg. In addition, he was best man for the deputy minister of ecology and water affairs Lyubka Kachakova.

The Perelik project received an Investor First Class certificate from the state. An airport near Smolyan and a 100km three-lane road from Plovdiv are planned for construction, with state participation. According to Assenov, the profits could reach 300 million leva a year.

The part of the project near Gela village is planned to envelop about 40 hectares (0.4 sq km), including the area near Shilestata Chuka peak (2188m).

Smolyan municipal councillors also approved a project contract with a second investor in the Perelik project – Gela Engineering (GE). The second agreement applies only to the construction in the Gela village area, for which a company between the municipality and the investor will be created. The local municipality decided to own a 25 per cent stake plus one share. This, according the contract, would guarantee the veto right on decisions concerning the more important questions. The major shares will belong to GE.

During the municipal meeting, the councillors also agreed to exchange state lands in the region of Perelik peak with municipal lands and forests in other settlements. The Smolyan municipality is planning to exchange 10.18 sq km lands from the forest fund and 5.2 ha (0.052 sq km) of agriculture lands for state land in the Perelik area, Bulgarian language Dir.bg reported on August 30.

The Perelik project is intended to be completed in the period 2012-2014.

The Original Report

Maybe it'll take longer or won't turn out as they planned, but truth is who knows?, things are happening in the area already as the photo's show.
Whatever happens it's very interesting watching and reading about the progress of the area.
Maybe it won't work out how it's supposed to but I don't think it's complete lies altogether.

Only time will tell, Lets wait a couple of years and then we'll be in a position to look back and comment on what was promised.
Unless of course there's any evidence now to suggest that the project will definately not go ahead?