A regular meeting of the Business Council was held in the Materials and Technologies sector
НOn 12.11.2022 from 14:00 in the city of Blagoevgrad, a regular meeting of the Business Council was held in the Materials and Technologies sector in the border regions of Blagoevgrad, Haskovo, Kardjali and Smolyan, and the activity is carried out under the project "Business Council - BC 6275 ” financed by INTERREG V/A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020 program, Subsidy contract No. B6.3a.18/13.04.2021.
The meeting was attended by 7 representatives of the sector from the border regions of Haskovo, Kardjali, Blagoevgrad and Smolyan. The dedicated hall was technically secured, being equipped with multimedia, laptop, printer, microphone/s and sound system, as well as information boards, banner and presentation materials, according to the requirements of the Interreg V/A Greece Program Communication and Publicity Guide- Bulgaria 2014-2020. In addition, disinfectants were provided, as well as water, coffee and tea to ensure the event's coffee break.
The discussion started with a discussion of problems in the logging sector - from prices to shortages. In this regard, the serious shortage of raw materials is discussed, because of which the business is suffering huge losses, and some companies are even considering their withdrawal from this market. The attendees made a unanimous decision that measures are needed to on the one hand reduce the pressure on business by providing the necessary resource, and on the other hand to ensure the proper management of our forests. In this regard, it was decided to initiate a meeting for all interested parties to discuss emergency measures in the short and medium term. The representatives of the sector expressed a position that Bulgaria applies too restrictive regimes and legislation regarding forest felling, compared to those in Europe. They pointed out that our country has huge amounts of forests that grow annually, but at the same time, due to regulatory problems, the industry suffers losses and is forced to work at a reduced capacity, sometimes up to 50%.
The possibility of measures to allow mechanized logging was also discussed, as the labor shortage problems are deepening. All those present were unanimous that all actions taken should be with care for the Bulgarian forest, guaranteeing its growth.
