site.btaEnvironmentalists, Forestry Farms and Trade Unions Speak Up against Plans for Transformation of State Forest Enterprises into Sole Owner Joint Stock Companies

Environmentalists, forestry farms and trade unions Thursday disagree with Finance Ministry plans for the transformation of the state forestry enterprises into sole owner joint stock companies (SJSCs), the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour said in a press release. A position to that effect was signed by representatives of the National Federation of Agri-Food and Forestry of the Confederation of Labour Podkrepa, the Union of Bulgarian Foresters, the Bulprofor association, the Association of Parks in Bulgaria, the University of Forestry, the Green Laws Initiative and the Institute for Economics and International Relations. 

The statement recalls that, according to the motives of the Finance Ministry, the change of status is related to Bulgaria's accession to the euro area. However, the seven organizations recall the Agriculture Ministry’s position to maintain the legal form of the state forest enterprises.

“We fully support the position of the Ministry of Agriculture in their statements to the Ministry of Finance that the proposed transformation exposes the enterprises to a real risk of bankruptcy, liquidation, loss of social benefits and dismissal of forestry staff, as well as the sale of state assets such as properties, buildings and even forests,” the position says.

"Such a reform was tested in the late 1990s. The same ended with severe consequences for the forestry system due to the allowed privatization of state-owned logging companies established as EADs. On the one hand, they were drained and plundered, and on the other hand, the state forestry companies were transformed into state forestry dependent on the budget, which were left (like most administrations) without the financial means to carry out their important functions, despite the fact that they provided significant revenue for the national budget," the organizations further point out.

The years in which the state forestry enterprises have been operating in this form have shown their sustainability, said in early March the outgoing Deputy Agriculture Minister Georgi Toshev. “They perform a number of public functions related to the protection of forest areas, protection from harmful climatic impacts and becoming commercial companies, according to all experts, would not be good for the entire forestry sector,” he told members of the parliamentary Agriculture Committee.