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Executive Forests Agency | Main activities

“Finance and Property Management” Directorate

• organizes the development and prepares а budget prognosis, the budget of the Agency and the budgets of the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units of the Agency;

• determines the remuneration of the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units of the Agency and coordinates their job descriptions;

• performs methodological guidance and control of the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units of the Agency for the implementation of the Law on accounting, as well as all normative acts, related to economic activity;

• participates in the development of regulations on the implementation and management of financial resources;

• performs processing of the economic documentation, that reflects the economic processes related to the activity of the Agency, of the Regional forest directorates and of the specialized territorial units;

• coordinates the budget implementation activities of the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units;

• summarizes and prepares monthly, quarterly and annual cash and accounting reports of the Agency;

• performs control over payments through the System for Electronic Budget Payments “SEBRA”;

• participates in the development and implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements on economic cooperation in the field of forestry and hunting;

• performs the accounting of the revenues and expenditures under the full budget classification and in the accounts of EFA, in accordance with the requirements of the Law on accountancy, the Chart of accounts of budgetary enterprises and the applicable accounting standards;

• prepares and stores payroll records for the employees of the Agency, makes payments on them, prepares monthly, quarterly and annual cash reports, quarterly and annual turnover statements and annual financial reports;

• performs accounting and payments on international agreements, programs and projects financed by funds and international sources;

• participates in the organization, construction and functioning of financial management and control systems within the Agency, including the system of ex-ante control and the double signature system, in order to be legal and effective budget management;

• organizes and performs the annual inventories according to the order and within the terms specified in the administrative acts of the Agency;

• develops the Agency's investment program, makes the lists for the Agency's capital expenditures, for the Regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units and submits them for approval by the Executive Director;

• controls, summarizes and reports on the implementation of investment politics and capital expenses made by the Agency, of the Regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units;

• controls and performs the funding of the approved investment programme of the Agency;

• develops programmes and measures and prepares analyses related to the Agency's investment policy, of the Regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units;

• organizes the activities related to the management of the state property, provided for the management of the agency, the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units, including:

a) leasing and disposal of real estate which are not forest territories, provided for the management by the Agency, its structures and specialized territorial units;

b) a grant for the management of movable property - state property, between, or for the benefit of the Agency, its structures and specialized territorial units;

• organizes and controls the maintenance and storage of the Agency's facilities;

• organizes and controls state-owned property insurance at the Agency;

• creates and maintains a list of state-owned real estate that is not forest territory, provided for the management by the Agency, the regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units;

• prepares statements to the regional governors in connection with the issuance of orders for deregistration of properties, which are not forest territories, from the statute books under the terms and procedure of the State Property Act;

• organizes activities on:

a) leasing and disposal of real estate which are not forest territories, provided to the management of the Agency, its structures and specialized territorial units;

b) а grant for management of movable property - state property, from and for the benefit of the Agency, its structures and specialized territorial units;

• manages transport services - motor vehicle registration, annual inspections, maintenance and repair;

• controls the performance of public procurement contracts;

• organizes, support and implementation of procurement activities;

• composes contracts for the establishment of property rights in forest territories, sale, exchange, rent, etc.;

“Legal and administrative activities” Directorate

• assists the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Directors, the Chief Secretary and the administrative units in the implementation of the legal and administrative activity of the Agency;

• participates in the development of regulations and gives opinions on these;

• provides legal representation to the Executive Director and the Agency before the courts;

• prepares and updates projects for the job descriptions and personal job descriptions of positions in the Agency;

• coordinates and proposes for approval the job descriptions for Regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units of the Agency;

• prepares acts related to the contracting, modification and termination of official and employment contract relations;

• prepares, drafts and stores the official and personal files of the employees of the Agency, the directors of the Regional forest directorates and the directors of the specialized territorial units of the Agency;

• develops, in conjunction with other competent authorities, projects and programs for working conditions and technical safety;

• takes legal action to collect receivables of the Agency;

• establish cooperation with the legal directorates of the other administrative structures within its competence;

• gives opinions on the legality of draft contracts, orders and others acts and documents related to the Agency’ activity;

• proposes to the Executive Director measures to harmonize the legislation of the Republic of Bulgaria with the Directives, Regulations and standards of European Union (EU) in the field of forestry and hunting;

• organizes and conducts record keeping activities by receiving, processing and sending outgoing correspondence;

• organizes and coordinates the work with the received signals and proposals of citizens and other documents;

• organizes the legal assistance of the administration for the lawful exercise of its functions;

• organizes the connections between the units of the general and specialized administration related to the submission of documents for implementation;

• processes and stores the central records/ archive of the Agency;

• organizes and coordinates the administrative service of citizens;

• collects, stores, processes, analyzes and disseminates information needed to make decisions regarding the professional training, qualification and retraining of agency staff;

• ensures the implementation of the Agency's information policy, implements its functional connection, planning and implementation;

• participates in the design, development and implementation of a forest information system of the Republic of Bulgaria;

• coordinates programs that serve the information activities of regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units;

• exercises methodological guidance in the use of electronic computing and data processing;

• coordinates the dissemination and implementation of software products in the practice of regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units;

• participates in committees and expert councils on the implementation, maintenance and use of software, databases and electronic equipment;

• organizes and provides technical support for the Agency's automated information and communication infrastructure, the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units - local networks and communication equipment;

• maintains and updates the Agency's website on the Internet by publishing current information in Bulgarian and English;

• ensures the integration of the information systems of the Agency with the systems of other units of the state administration;

• ensure the proper functioning of the hardware and software, necessary to process and transmit the information;

• organizes and controls the design and creation of information systems for the needs of the Agency;

• organizes and provides technically the public statements of the Executive Director;

• develops a program for presenting the Agency's activities to the public and the mass media;

• informs the public about the Agency's policies and its programs and activities;

• organizes public appearances of agency staff;

• implements coordination and methodological management of the relations of the Agency, the Regional forest directorates and specialized territorial units of the Agency with the public;

• studies and analyzes public opinion before conducting an Agency's policy and analyzes publications in the media about the Agency's activities;

• works in coordination with the public relations units of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and other administrative structures;

• organizes the conduct and minutes of official and working meetings, as well as other statements by the Executive Director and the Agency's management;

• implements the protocol correspondence of the Executive Director;

• makes contacts with embassies of foreign countries in the Republic of Bulgaria to arrange protocol and official meetings with the Executive Director and the Agency's management.

“Forest territories” Directorate

• assists the Executive Director to exercise his power in relation to the methodological management of the land consolidation activity in forest areas;

• participates in the preparation of strategies and programs related to the use of timber and non-timber resources in the country;

• organizes and supervises the activities on the development, adoption and modification of the forest map;

• provides public access to the forest map;

• creates and maintains GIS for forest territories based on forest map data;

• assists the Executive Director in setting national priorities in the field of forest inventory and planning in forest territories;

• considers proposals and prepares draft acts for:

a) preliminary coordination and change of purpose of land properties in forest territories

b) preliminary agreement and establishment оf land use rights on state property in forest territories

c) preliminary agreement and establishment of easement in forest territories – state properties

d) preliminary agreement and establishment construction right in forest territories – state properties

e) purchase by the state of land properties in forest territories owned by individuals, legal entities and municipalities

f) swap of lands in forest territories privately owned by the state, with lands in forested territories owned by individuals, legal entities and municipalities

g) sale of land in forest areas

h) constructions in forest territories that are not construction within the meaning of the Forest Law;

• organizes the procedures on changing the purpose of:

a) agricultural territories and disturbed terrains into forest territories;

b) agricultural lands which have acquired the characteristics of a forest, verified during the inventory of forest territories;

• establishes and maintains the set of documents verifying the property right of the state on lands in forest territories, which are provided for the management of state-owned enterprises under the Forest Law;

• organizes and controls the implementation of a national inventory of forest territories;

• controls the development of Regional plans for the development of forest territories;

• organizes and controls the inventory of forest territories;

• supervises the development of forest management plans and programs for forest territories, plans for game management and forest fire protection activities;

• notifies the owners of afforested and self-afforested agricultural lands after March 1, 1991 of the circumstances under Art. 83, para. 1 of the Forest Law and the resulting activities on clearing the properties or changing their purpose.

“Forest management” Directorate

• assists the Executive Director in setting national priorities in the field of forestry;

• assists the Executive Director in carrying out activities related to the implementation of national forest policy, national strategic forest documents, programs and other documents in the field of forest policy;

• develops a Strategic Plan for the Development of the Forestry Sector;

• controls the implementation of the forest management plans and programs, as well as:

a) the establishment of forests in forest territories, on agricultural lands and in areas for recultivation;

b) production and trade with forest reproductive materials;

c) protection of forest territories from erosion and torrents;

d) selection and introduction of forest tree species and conservation of forest genetic resources;

e) approval and registration of basic material of forest seed production base;

f) execution of fellings in forests;

g) the use of timber and non-timber forest products and grazing in forest territories;

h) protection of forest territories from diseases, pests and other damages;

i) activities of persons performing sylvicultural practice and activities in forest territories, etc.

• coordinates and controls the activity of the Seed control stations, Forest protection stations, Nature parks directorates and other specialized territorial units, established by order of the Executive director;

• develops drafts of regulations in the field of afforestation, management and protection of forests;

• organizes and coordinates the activities of the Agency related to participation and implementation of international, European and national programs and projects in the field of forestry;

• creates and maintains an electronic database and documents for forest reproductive materials in Bulgarian and English language;

• creates and maintains a system for forecasting and signaling for diseases, pests and other damage in forest territories and maintains information system with data base on the health condition of forests;

• organizes the commissioning, development and implementation of plans, projects and programs for protected territories and protected areas in non-exclusive state forests and for the protection of forest ecosystems and their biological diversity;

• organizes a system for management and control of the protected areas and for maintenance of the favorable status of individual habitat types and species habitats in the National Ecological Network "Natura 2000" in the forest territories;

• develops programs to encourage the participation of individuals, legal entities and municipalities - owners of forest territories - at all stages of forest management, utilization and protection;

• advises individuals, legal entities and municipalities - owners of forest territories - on issues related to forest management and utilization, as well as on possibilities for financial support;

• assists in the establishment of forest associations and municipal forest management structures;

• collects, analyzes and reports statistical information on activities in forest territories;

• establishes relations, organizes and coordinates the participation of the Agency in the work of the European Commission's working groups and committees in the field of forestry and related sectors - environment, rural areas, statistics;

• organizes and coordinates the development and implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements for cooperation in the field of forestry;

• organizes the Agency's participation in the work of international organizations, processes and joint committees for cooperation in the field of forestry.

“Control on protection of forest territories and hunting management” Directorate

• assists the Executive Director to exercise his powers in relation to implementation of the Forest Law and its secondary regulations concerning the protection of forest territories;

• assists the Executive Director to exercise his powers in relation to implementation of the Hunting and game protection Law and its secondary regulations

• controls:

a) the access to forest territories and movement of vehicles in forests;

b) harvesting of timber and non-timber products from forest territories;

c) the transportation, storage, processing and marketing of timber and non-timber products harvested from forest territories;

d) construction in forest territories;

e) the compliance with the Forest Law and its regulations on access to forest territories and the movement of vehicles in forests;

• performs coordination and interaction with non-governmental organizations in relation to control on forest protection;

• coordinates, controls and reports on wildlife conservation activities;

• reports on the protection of forest territories from fires;

• organizes and participates in the development of training programs, training and qualification of employees involved in the control on the protection of forest territories, game and fishery resources, water bodies used for recreational fishing

• organizes the preparation and controls the implementation of projects, plans and programs related to the protection of the forest territories from fires and the control on protection of forest territories;

• coordinates and controls the activities of the Regional forest directorates and the specialized territorial units of the Agency, as well as of the state forest companies related to the protection of forest territories from fires and to the control on protection of forest territories, game and fishery resources in water bodies used for recreational fishing;

• performs coordination with the Ministry of Interior and other institutions in relation to the implementation of joint control measures for protection of forest territories, game and fishery resources in the water bodies used for recreational fishing;

• performs coordination with the Ministry of Interior and other institutions in relation to protection of forest territories from fires;

• controls the observation of the Law on Registration and Control of Agricultural and Forestry Equipment and its secondary regulations in forest territories;

• assists and advises forest owners concerning the conservation of forests and their protection from fires;

• keeps and stores:

a) a register of forest marks;

b) a list of special-purpose motor vehicles;

• controls:

a) the management, protection and use of the game;

b) acquiring and execution of hunting right;

c) performing of organized hunting tourism

d) the trade with game and game products

e) the production of fish stocking material and small game for distribution by state forest and state hunting enterprises

f) development and implementation of hunting plans and programs

• performs analyzes and forecasts and elaborates programs for the development of the hunting and game breeding;

• supervises and coordinates the activities of the Regional forests directorates related to hunting and game breeding;