site.btaAgriculture Ministry Starts Pilot Tender Procedures for Long-term Contracts for Sale of Timber

Agriculture Ministry Starts Pilot Tender Procedures for Long-term Contracts for Sale of Timber

Sofia, April 6 (BTA) - The Agriculture and Food Ministry starts
pilot tender procedures for signing long-term contracts for the
sale of timber, which will be up to five years, Deputy
Agriculture Minister Georgi Kostov told BTA in an interview. The
goal is to stimulate SME through the provision of the necessary
raw timber and achieving better value added for the final
product after processing, he explained.

The moratorium on the export of timber came into effect on March
10 and it is too early to draw conclusions about the results
from imposing the ban, he noted. The Agriculture Ministry has
made a commitment to make the necessary changes to the legal
framework within the three months during which the moratorium
will be in effect. The goal is to improve forest protection
control and efficiency. The Deputy Minister further explained
that the proposals for legislative changes concerning timber
harvesting and sale are ready and are to be put to public
discussion.

According to the Ministry's Forestry Sector Development
Directorate, the forested areas in Bulgaria have sustainably
increased over the past 40 years, currently standing at 3.811
million hectares.

A total of 173 mobile teams are assigned to protecting the
forest areas of the state forestry enterprises. An agreement was
signed between the Agriculture Ministry and the Interior
Ministry this January on the joint protection of these areas.

The Agriculture Ministry warns that anyone who purchases
unmarked and undocumented timber makes them an accomplice to
those involved in illegal logging and will be held legally
responsible.