Ohrid Municipality says no beach concessions were issued — activists ask: “How are they then occupied by sunbeds?”
Activists say sunbeds occupy large stretches of Ohrid’s shore while the municipality insists no concession contracts were issued.
Environmental group O2 Initiative has renewed public criticism over the state of beaches along Lake Ohrid, saying that sunbeds and other equipment cover large parts of the shore and that UNESCO recommendations are not being observed. The activists say they asked municipal officials for clarification and received an official reply that Ohrid Municipality "has not concluded lease agreements and has not issued beaches under concession, while sunbeds are occupying the beaches! Free-for-all!"
Dispute over who is responsible and what rules apply
O2 Initiative says inspectors and local leadership have failed to react to what they describe as widespread, informal commercial occupation of the shoreline. In a recent public statement they warned that half of the beach area should be left free of sunbeds and similar equipment.
Describing current conditions, the activists wrote: "Kaneo and Potpeš are sunbed to sunbed, with concreted pebbles and similar. Neither the inspectorate acts, nor Mayor Pecakov is moved. Everyone is pretending to be crazy."
The group compared local practice to regulations they say are enforced elsewhere in Europe: in Portugal, they note, 70 percent of a beach must remain free and the same applies to 50 percent of its length; in Greece, they add, Natura areas require 50–70 percent of the beach to be free, four metres from the shoreline must be kept free of sunbeds, and beaches narrower than four metres or smaller than 150 square metres cannot be leased.
O2 Initiative warned that in the only UNESCO-protected natural and cultural site in the country — one of just 38 such properties worldwide — those rules are apparently ignored and the shore is treated as a "free-for-all" without regard for conservation or heritage protection.
The activists are calling for clearer enforcement and for municipal and inspection bodies to ensure the shoreline is returned to public use in accordance with legal and UNESCO recommendations.
Photo: press material from the event
