The state hunting farm “Iskar” has been operating at a loss, according to an inspection by the Executive Forest Agency. The farm became famous with the controversial building near the Iskar Dam, for which the chief architect of Sofia issued a demolition order, announced bTV.
It was built in partnership with a private company linked to businessman Rumen Gaitanski. For years the hunting and economic activity in the region has been in partnership with the same private company.
A few months ago, the foresters and Gaitanski’s company explained that the three-storey building was a repair shop. However, there is a swimming pool next to it.
The owners claimed that the renovation did not require a building permit, but bTV showed archival satellite images showing no building in front of the building. The chief architect issued a demolition order.
The company’s comment is: “Within the 14-day period allowed by law, we will appeal the order of the chief architect of Sofia to demolish the building. We have documents that we will present in court.”
However, how profitable is the public-private partnership on the farm? The director of the Executive Forest Agency Alexander Dunchev announced that for 5 years the state has invested over BGN 2.2 million, and the private partner – a little over BGN 800 thousand. The revenues are below BGN 1 million.
“I mean absolutely at a loss. In fact, these joint ventures are extremely unfair, they do not achieve their purpose. On the contrary, they abuse their private partners, they use hunting farms for private purposes very often. They seize them entirely for foreign tourists and foreign interest. “They are most often used for various meetings with business partners, politicians, ie this is a place where power and dependencies are built,” Dunchev commented.
Checks on how profitable partnerships with private individuals are are underway in nearly 20 state hunting farms in the country, Alexander Dunchev added.
–
