Herpetology sent Petko Petkov to Canada 30 years ago, and his consultations on the Struma route – in today’s political mess
More than 30 years ago, biologist Petko Petkov made his first parachute jump. These days, the man with silver hair, who has not yet given up extreme sports, has landed in … Bulgarian politics. On solid.
“When discussing the route of the Struma highway, Kiril Petkov said: ‘My father said that the route should not pass here – he is an ecologist.’ This was announced by Toshko Yordanov, the closest to Slavi Trifonov and head of the MPs from “There is such a people” in the series stories about the secrets of the coalition’s “bedroom”, which is running after the noisy divorce between ITN and “Change”.
The resigned Minister of Regional Development Grozdan Karadzhov added to the picture. “I had a reasonable dialogue with him for more than an hour, I do not say it with irony. The proposal for stages came from his father – now to use the procedure (ed. note – so as not to lose EU funds), subsequently to add another canvas “, Karadzhov revealed, adding twice how” reasonable and dedicated ecologist “Petkov Sr. is.
Indeed, Petko Petkov is a dedicated zoologist, a former professor, in his circles many young people then fell in love with eco-causes. One of them is the alpinist Boyan Petrov, who died under Shisha Pangma 3 years ago, another – the founder of the largest and most modern veterinary clinic in our country, who still remembers how after a trip with Boyan and Petko he returned home with a bag of snakes and to the horror of his parents, he dropped them under the sofa. The Prime Minister’s father has been a fierce environmentalist for years with causes for the protection of Pirin, Coral Beach and endangered species in our country.
Exactly around the disappearance of Boyan Petrov in the Himalayas, most people in our country heard about father and son Petkovi for the first time. Then Cyril and Petko
a helicopter was hoisted in Nepal
in an unprecedented rescue operation – for the first time China and Nepal are cooperating in such an operation and for the first time a helicopter flew so high for more than an hour.
Petkov Sr. immediately left for Nepal, learning of Boyan’s disappearance. “My father said he was getting different information. He had withdrawn $ 30,000 and left for China. I decided to accompany him. The Chinese ambassador helped a lot, “Kiril Petkov said at the time.
They reached by helicopter up to 7400 m without acclimatization – the level of Camp 3, but, unfortunately, to this day there is no trace of the body of the only Bulgarian who conquered 10 eight thousand.
By the way, when Boyan Petrov, who was also a biologist, survived the brutal catastrophe of the Kresna Gorge in 2016, after which he managed to walk again and continue to climb peaks, he studied the route of “Struma” and how it will affect the ecosystem . He struggled to displace it. Again on the same route of Struma, the Prime Minister’s father has now entered the political intrigue.
The snakes are the ones who send him to Canada. He managed to become a Canadian citizen thanks to his specialty herpetology – he won a project of the United States and Canada to combat snakes. These are islands where a certain species of snake inhabits unknown routes, and since other animal species in this area do not know it and it has no natural enemies, it begins to eat birds and smaller mammals and thus change the local fauna. The Bulgarian herpetologist applied with
concept for dealing with the alien snake
Within 7 years, he managed to freeze its population, thus relocating his family to Vancouver in 1994.
“He told me how he worked in wild places in Canada, where Indians live. His projects were related to nature protection. He was an enthusiast “, recalled Prof. Nikolay Spasov from the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Acquaintances say that Petkov has worked on another island over the years. The site was close to an area where nuclear tests had once taken place, and an international team of biologists had to determine whether there were any consequences for the environment. There were few applicants due to the fear of radiation, and the payment covered the risk. In the end, it turned out that nature was not harmed. According to old comrades of the biologist, it was there that he discovered surfing, which is still his great passion. He has also been kitesurfing for years.
In his two great passions – biology
and surfs, sets fire to his son
Cyril is studying biology at the University of British Columbia. But in third grade, he realizes it’s not his, and chooses economics. He works as a currency dealer in Brussels, then in Russia.
He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School (HBS). Ultimately, business acumen and biology come together – patented probiotics, which make it rich. Today, his father is said to be actively helping in this international family business and remains committed to extreme sports at sea and in the mountains, despite turning 63 on Monday.
Petko Petkov is an astral twin with GERB leader Boyko Borissov.
They were both born on June 13 with only 1 year difference – the prime minister’s father was in 1958, the ex-prime minister – in 1959. They are also connected by martial arts – Petkov Sr. has been one of the emblematic names of aikido in Bulgaria for almost 40 years. Participates in seminars, trains young followers of Japanese martial arts.
“Canada is a beautiful country. I was a poor immigrant, I fought for this Canadian citizenship. For me, the value in it was that I proved that I could be equal in a free state. Which one.
When I became a Canadian citizen, I had a moment of freedom that made me a man of the world.
When Cyril came to Canada, he was a 14-year-old child. Twenty days after his arrival, I appeared to receive the Canadian citizenship I had won. As a child, Cyril did not know what he was thinking about, he simply took Canadian citizenship. And I told myself that I could not have given him anything, but at least I made him a man of the world “, says the father, when the scandal with the citizenship of the future prime minister broke out.
And he admits: “It was very difficult for me when my son went to the notary to say that he no longer wanted to be a Canadian citizen. I asked him if he had thought of a good solution, and he told me that there are moments in life when you have to choose. ”
Then he fervently defended his son, behind whom he apparently continues to stand today in his vicissitudes as prime minister – around and far beyond the Struma highway.
He had a great influence on
coalition environmental policies
Prime Minister Petkov’s father can boast of great influence in the Ministry of Ecology, people familiar with the eco-organizations told 24 Chassa.
“Those who run the Ministry of Environment and Water – Sandov, his adviser Andrei Kovachev, and Petko Petkov are one group. “Those who were heads of NGOs are now being promoted to advisers,” they said. Toma Belev, who was also a member of more than one environmental organization, is even a deputy minister.
According to them, Kiril Petkov and Borislav Sandov are known by the association “Let’s Save Coral”, which has been operating for ten years.
“Let’s save Coral” are in parliament and in the executive branch. These words of Toshko Yordanov and Grozdan Karadzhov – that the Prime Minister said that the route of “Struma” should be changed because his father does not agree, are true. Those of us who work in the sector knew it a month and a half ago, and now they have said it publicly, “said the source familiar with the environment.
Grozdan Karadjov himself told reporters on Thursday that he had been summoned about a month and a half ago to the office of the prime minister, who introduced him to his father. The man made a pleasant impression on the resigned Deputy Prime Minister because he offered him a workable solution that satisfies environmentalists and at the same time does not cut European funding for the completion of the Struma Highway through the Kresna Gorge. It is essentially putting an additional lane on the new part of the highway that will run east of the gorge, thus avoiding the construction of a 22-kilometer tunnel, as environmentalists want, which is very expensive.
However, according to sources, the change of the road is not an option due to the nature of the route in the area, financial reasons and deadlines.
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