Photo: "Save Irakli"

Although authorities recently suspended construction of a holiday complex in Irakli-Emine because the area was a Natura 2000 protected area, the developers, Swiss Properties, have not ceased construction works, propertywisebulgaria.com said.

Trees have been cut down and the Vaya river banks has been destroyed to prepare the terrain for the construction of hotels, Nadezhda Maximova from the "Save Irakli" environmental organisation told Dnevnik Daily.

The area owned by Swiss Properties formed 20 per cent of the future Natura 2000 ecological network zone of Irakli-Emine, environmentalists said.

"The Nessebar municipality had destroyed the area by issuing constructing permits and now the country would have to pay the inevitable fines to the European Union," they said.

Ecologists appealed for an immediate restoration of damages done to biodiversity and severe sanctions for the municipality, the developers and the local policemen in Obzor, who refused to respond to а tip-off about the violations with the explanation that they were having a break.