The image problem of the concessionaire in Bansko

Working with my beloved Pirin has unexpectedly become boring, so it is necessary to comment again. We humans love light and fear darkness. We associate it with the unknown, the unfamiliar, evil. In our imagination, monsters are born there. Well, it is the same in business.

What do the large mass of protesters want for Pirin?

Light. They want to see the concessionaire of the Bansko ski area. Because they love Pirin and each of them feels it as their own. They want to be convinced that the concessionaire is honest and will not destroy the nature of the mountain. In practice, this means having information about the ownership and management of Yulen, about the agreements with the state and the municipality, about its relations with banks, hotels and other companies, about its impacts on the environment and the local community, about the level of compliance with the laws... And all of this to be available with public access, which today means - one click away on the Internet.

What do the state and the concessionaire give them?

Darkness. No owner, no clear parameters of the deal, no clear assessments of the impacts… In fact, even worse. The little financial information available shows that Yulen has the expected high revenues, but they are at a loss almost every year and the concession payments are insignificant for the scale of the business.

Why, people? Why are you doing the nonsense of various giants from the oil industry, who save hundreds of millions and turn around some huge excise taxes and VAT. Is all your hard work for a 10% corporate tax? Well, this is the lowest rate in the world – almost like in an offshore zone. It's not worth it!

No, it's not illegal, but it's terribly annoying. Because the Bansko ski area is clearly a successful and growing business that is certainly profitable. How else would winter tourism – half of which takes place in Bansko – generate around 1 billion leva of GDP? And even if you were losing money, would you want to expand it with new lifts?

Nobody respects losing companies.

Loss in business equals failure, incompetence, incompetence. It means you are not capable of managing your own company, let alone its external impacts on the environment and the interests of all affected groups. Is that what you are trying to show with these fake reports? I doubt it.

You claim that today Bansko is a world-class ski resort, people there live much better, and Pirin is a mountain with excellently preserved wildlife. And you claim that this is happening largely thanks to your work and investments. Although I do not have the full information, I personally tend to agree. However, I am not a representative sample. Besides, if I were the owner of Yulen, I would be proud of these results and personally present and defend them.

Who would people trust? A man who stands in the spotlight and takes an open and clear position, or a man who sends lawyers to speak on his behalf while he hides in the shadows?

Nobody respects companies without faces

Ask Uncle Google! It will tell you that people are about 100 times more likely to associate the word "unknown" with "perpetrator" than they are to associate it with "benefactor." Are you still surprised that they are chanting "Mafia"?

In this regard, since the beginning of 2018, an amendment to the Accounting Act has been in force, which obliges all large “public interest enterprises” to annually publish so-called non-financial information along with their annual financial statements. This is exactly the type of information that I commented on above. And all public and energy companies, water and sewerage companies, banks and insurers will have to share it. However… the legislator has determined that Yulen, which manages the only significant concession in a national park, is NOT a “public interest enterprise”. Are you still surprised that they are chanting “Mafia”?

And finally, one (last free) piece of advice. Not from me, but from above:
"God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness."

The text was originally published on the author's Facebook profile.
Image source: kempinski.com

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