Vitosha Ski, the company that holds the concession on the ski facilities at Aleko winter resort on Mount Vitosha above Sofia, has said that it did not use blasts to clear out rocks on the slopes of the mountain, as claimed by Bulgarian media outlets and To Sustain The Nature in Bulgaria coalition earlier in October.

The press conference came just two days after the Environment Ministry said that blasts have damaged special types of moraines and Alpine plant species. The ministry assessed the construction of a new ski road as illegal, as state or park authorities had not given their approval for it. The ministry said it had instructed the Sofia Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Waters (RIEW) to lodge a formal complaint with the Prosecutor's Office.

Georgi Bobev, chairperson of Vitosha Ski managing board confirmed the statement of Vitosha Park management, which said the company was only allowed to destroy stones, which were protruding over the existing ski route but without using blasting methods.

Bobev quoted an extract from the Vitosha Park management plan for 2005/14, articles 64 and 66, saying that based on the plan the company had sent letters to RIEW and the parks directorate to co-ordinate the activities on clearing rocks under the mountain peak Maluk Vezhen, where the problem started.

Vitosha Ski executive director Kostadin Kostadinov said that since the company has been operating in the nature park, it had sent 110 letters to various institutions and received positive answers to only two or three of them. He said that the company did not destroy moraines but volcanic rocks, which time and weather had rubbled into pieces of 15 to 50 tons.

The company's managers argued that the ultimate goal was the safety of tourists skiing on Mount Vitosha. Bobev said that the company did not plan further demolitions.