A second home in Bulgaria?
Around 23 000 new-built apartments South of Sunny beach are looking for buyers. This showed data of the ...
Posted by Yanko on 2008-04-01
Misconception:
“Bulgaria is turning towards higher quality developments; (…) taking care to protect the national parks and natural resources.” This is what the property agent Compass assures you on its webpage. Real Estate Sofia, another property agent, assures you that Bulgaria is “a country of outstanding natural beauty” where “the environment remains unspoilt”. On its webpage, Bansko winter resort boasts its commitment to environmental care through soil conservation, scarp consolidation, lawn rehabilitation, and water purification, which can’t be further from the truth than it is: link.
Reality:
Desperate for investment, the Bulgarian government gave green light to the Bansko ski zone project in violation of a number of environmental laws. Subsequently, it failed to safeguard the keeping of its own laws and allowed the project to expand threefold than the initially allowed, encroaching upon Pirin National Park. Today, Bansko winter resort is an environmental disaster. National park Pirin is threatened to be taken out of the UNESCO list of world cultural and natural heritage sites. The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters admitted that the Bansko and Dobrinishte ski zones have been irretrievably damaged and cannot be restored to their previous state. Bulgaria will not be able to follow UNESCO’s recommendations regarding the restoration of the site.
An NGO report entitled “Bansko Ski Zone – A Crime Without Punishment” undertakes a painstaking assessment of all legal violations and the impact of the ski zone on the environment in Pirin National Park and in the Bansko region. The impact is especially negative on the local community (as evidenced by the results of a sociological survey among Bansko population) and the environment. The assessment is supported by scores of evidence and scientific data. The full report is available in English here.
Ask your property investment agents why they don’t offer inspection trips to the respective sites. The property investment company Obelisk answers this question unconvincingly: “Whilst inspection trips may provide a useful insight for a lifestyle purchaser these heavily subsidised journeys and associated hospitality, plus the costs of an on-site sales operation, are all factored into the end price of property. Obelisk eliminates this additional cost, further enhancing the excellent below market value price.” The real reason is that you will see the disastrous over-construction and poor infrastructure on the Black Sea coast, in Bansko, and elsewhere and will realize it is wiser to decide to invest in another place. Many people are pressured into buying at property shows in Britain before even setting foot in Bulgaria. One of the numerous accounts of visitors to Bansko enlists the disadvantages of the resort: “1. The whole town is terribly dirty. 2. The gypsy musicians in the pubs are so loud they can break your ear-drums. 3. The high prices everywhere are unjustified. 4. Despite the new ski-drags one should still wait in line. 5. There is an obtrusive presence of thick-necked guys (the so-called “mutri” in Bulgarian) who do anything but skiing. 6. The streets are narrow and bumpy. There is no infrastructure. As a whole, it is expensive, dirty and unattractive.” link