The Vrana Park is dying. In recent years, its maintenance, preservation and development have been approaching zero, the Secretariat of the Royal Family reports. Since the beginning of the year, there have been two cases of fallen trees from the park on a car and a bus on Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd. The Secretariat adds that the state is suing for the ownership of the park and has taken it away from the Sofia Municipality, but has not been providing professional care for it for more than a year.
This is not a forest, it is a jungle
"Unique tree species are dying from the lack of care for them. There is a complete lack of watering, the examination of the health status of the trees is late, and there is no removal of diseased and dead trees. Ivy is left to suffocate everything in order, which is horrifying evidence of the negligence of those responsible for the maintenance and preservation of the park. Dry trees spread diseases and endanger human lives. This is no longer a forest, but a jungle, "the secretariat writes.
Whose responsibility is it?
In their position, they recall the two incidents in which trees fell on vehicles on Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd. and inform that there are hundreds of similar trees that can cause irreparable damage at any moment. And they ask whose responsibility will be in the event of a death on the road.
Where do the entrance fees go?
"The state has given millions of leva in fees and is suing for the ownership of the park and has taken it away from the Sofia Municipality, but for more than a year now it has not provided any professional care. The municipality justifies itself by saying that the park is no longer theirs and does nothing! We ask ourselves, if no one owns the park, who collects the money from entrance fees?", the position of the secretariat also says. To enter the park, visitors pay an entrance fee of 5 leva.
What is ownership
The secretariat recalls that on June 4, 1998, the Constitutional Court made a unanimous decision to declare the Law on Confiscation of the Personal Property of the Royal Family unconstitutional. In 2001, Tsar Simeon and Princess Maria Luisa donated the park to the Sofia Municipality - a total of 990 decares. Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski expressed his heartfelt thanks for this huge gesture and pledged to comply with the terms of the donation. According to the will of the donors, the Sofia Municipality is obliged to take care of the park as a natural history museum and to determine the order for citizens to visit it.
In 2013, the Municipality decided to close the existing Municipal Enterprise “Vrana Park Museum” and to transfer the park to “Parks and City Gardens”, thus destroying the autonomy of the 120-year-old park, which inevitably affects its current very poor condition. The care that the Sofia Municipality takes is only in an insignificant part of the entire park, and without regard to the existing decades of traditions and practices, preserved even after the nationalization of the property in 1947. Especially before the 70s and 80s, the park was in excellent condition. The maintenance is at the highest level.
The secretariat also writes: "With proper maintenance and care, as well as systematic ecological-biological research and monitoring, the park can be a source of genetic material for the use of adapted exotic species. Today, the only "care" that is required is mowing the grass and collecting the leaves!
There is no other park like it not only in Bulgaria, but also in Southeast Europe. And instead of being valued, protected, and developed, it has been left to turn into an impassable, sick, and dangerous jungle. If our rulers lack the capacity to take care of it, it is not particularly difficult to see how other countries take care of similar parks. To attract specialists who understand park art and maintenance, and not justify themselves with administrative obstacles or "modern" trends".