When the pioneers of nature conservation protected the area of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, on the territory that later became part of the United States, they ignited a spark of awareness about the invaluable importance of the existence, protection, and preservation of pristine nature and everything within it. A hundred years later, in the 1970s, this spark had become a powerful flame that shed light on the environment in which humans live. It not only drew attention to the unacceptable exploitation of natural resources and wealth, mining, agriculture, hunting, and fishing, but also to where humans live directly—in cities and villages. People became increasingly aware that without a peaceful, healthy environment, clean air, untainted food, and pure water, there is no real life. Today, constitutions around the world boast grand words and guarantees about the inalienable human right to all the above. The green movements of the 1970s significantly contributed to making almost all European rivers green again and full of vibrant life; to us breathing better air; to us closely monitoring what we eat; and to our awareness of the importance of a peaceful and serene environment for our health and the life of our planet. But, like every good idea, however, »green« has its anomalies and deviations, and it is vulnerable to abuse when taken over and hijacked by those who use »green« and »social« as mere means to achieve personal gain, regardless of the cost to nature, the environment, space, people, fauna and flora, life itself, and everything that is and could be here. The story of Dragarska Valley, Loški Potok, and Mali Log is a true tale about just that. About such an abuse.

Photo by: Ana Ašič

Written by: Ana Ašič

Photos by: Ana Ašič, Milan Cerar

A Map of Slovenia with Municipality Loški Potok: Wikipedia

Cover Photo: Ana Ašič

 June 17, 2024

           

Editor’s notice: Due to the exceptionally high and growing interest from the international public in the investigative story about the controversial cooperative and energy »developments« under the guise of the »green« transition in Municipality Loški Potok, Slovenia, EU, https://anaasicsic.com/2024/06/17/kaj-dogaja-v-loskem-potoku-tragika-odrocne-obcine-kdo-jo-v-resnici-vodi-ni-vse-zadruzno-zlato-kar-se-sveti-indijanci-na-zemlji-z-nafto-pa-palestinci-in/ which we originally published in Slovene language on our website portal Ana Ašič Sic! Journalism in Focus on June 17, 2024, now one month and ten days ago, we are publishing here the authorized English translation of the investigative story by the author, journalist, publicist, and editor Ana Ašič.

July 27, 2024

This early spring, we received a concerned letter from the residents of Dragarska Valley, the Green Circle Civil Initiative, and the local Hunting Association Draga-Trava. They had been observing for several months that plans to build wind turbines on Parg were apparently being revived. Parg is a ridge approximately 10 kilometers long and around a thousand meters high on the Slovenian-Croatian border, stretching from Lazec to Podplanina and Croatian Čabar, and idyllically overlooking Podpreska, Draga, Srednja vas, and Trava to the east, and Stari Kot and Novi Kot, just a stone’s throw from Parg, to the west.

The residents of Dragarska Valley had already opposed attempts to degrade their living environment from 2016 to 2018. Ivan Benčina, then mayor and co-founder of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok, now the president of this cooperative, along with his associates, had come up with the idea to line the top of Parg with a dozen wind turbines for profit.

The observations and assumptions of the hunters and residents of Dragarska Valley were somewhat confirmed in mid-April when Ivan Benčina responded rather excessively to the aforementioned letter, which the Green Circle and the Hunting Association Draga-Trava had addressed to several relevant authorities. In his response to the Hunting Association and its elder Ivan Miklič, as well as to the Hunting Association of Slovenia and its president Alojz Kovšca—who, in his letter to the mayor of Loški Potok and all other recipients, supported the efforts of the Dragarska Valley hunters to preserve nature and the living environment of wild animals and reminded of the legal necessity for prior professional assessment of any intervention in nature that could worsen the living conditions of wildlife, clearly stating that the Hunting Association of Slovenia expects the Hunting Association Draga-Trava to be a party in all procedures regarding the potential placement of wind turbines on Parg—Benčina confirmed that »in accordance with the agreement among the project partners of ‘Wind Field Parg,’ the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok is responsible for coordination, and it has been agreed between the Cooperative and the state-owned Drava Power Plants (DEM) that the Cooperative will handle public communication.«

Peterkov Vrh, at an altitude of 1097 meters, is the highest point in Parg. Situated in a beautiful meadow amidst pristine nature within the hunting grounds of the Draga – Trava Hunting Association, a mobile wind measurement device from Drava Power Plants has been in place since last autumn. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

It is unequivocal that the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok, the Municipality of Loški Potok, and the Drava Power Plants are seriously discussing the construction of the Parg Wind Farm again. This was confirmed by Ivan Benčina himself when, in conversation with us, he said, »Drava Power Plants are conducting wind measurements on Parg until September or October, and based on this data, the Parg Wind Farm project will begin to be prepared.« When asked, »And if people are against it?« he confidently replied with a smile, »Oh, they will be for it; once they see and hear how much money it will bring them, everyone will be for it!«

Fragrant Drops under the Misty Parg

»Parg is the heart of these regions, and we will not allow it to be destroyed! Besides, the wind turbines would be too close to the houses, just a few hundred meters away; I don’t believe anyone will be for that,« a local resident decisively told me during a chance encounter while I was investigating the »terrain« unannounced in the last days of May.

»Up there,« a resident of Podpreska pointed to the fog-covered ridge of Parg earlier that day at another location, »they will never put wind turbines up there! The residents of Dragarska Valley will not allow it!«

When I later took some pictures of the misty Parg in Draga and dared to step onto the neatly mowed lawn near the hunting lodge, where the base of this beautiful elongated mountain comes very close to the road from Loški Potok to Čabar, I soon heard behind me: »What are you doing?« »Oh,« I said, »I’m seeing if the wind blows on Parg!« »Do you plan to put wind turbines up there?« the previously friendly look immediately turned sharp and decisive. »Well, not right away and not for now,« I said and gazed again at Parg, where the ridge was now enveloped in dense fog, already starting to creep down the slopes like thick cotton. Silence fell for a moment, then a very calm but now quite chilly laugh responded, »Never, dear lady! There will be no wind turbines on Parg! Dragarska Valley is firmly against it!« »And if they offer you money, ‘a lot of money,’ as they say, will you still be against it?« »What money, lady!? Whose? Who would give it!? And do you think any money can compensate for the destruction of what you see here, this nature, the pristine environment of wildlife on Parg, this life in this peace!?« The friendly look was even more determined, now seriously observing and awaiting my response.

The moments of silence were interrupted by distant flashes of an approaching storm from the southwest, along with the scent of blooming meadows and the green May forest, so close, so beautiful, so real and at the same time unrealistically magical, taking one’s breath away. Fairytale-like.

»No,« I said, »no amount of money can compensate for this. All this is priceless!« The warm scents of wild thyme, fragrant evening dew, and summer grasses dripped straight into the heart in this perfect peace, I thought, no, indeed, there are no other words, nothing else can be said about this wonderful secret world, which is simultaneously veiled and revealed by the green forest horizons, no, you can only call it priceless, magical, unique! This is a world where grasses still ripen into summer, interwoven with a sea of colorful flowers, rarely seen elsewhere, buzzing with bees and bumblebees, chirping with crickets and grasshoppers, in relentless celebration and reverence of life, genuinely authentic and true, full of astonishing yet serene, subtle beauty, which can only be found where nature is still allowed to beat with its original rhythm and language.

»Aaaa,« the eyes slowly warmed and smiled, »you are not really one of them, are you!?« I smiled back: »But I look exactly like one, don’t I!? To zealously put wind turbines in pristine nature and stick them wherever I please!?« Now the words were cheerful. »No, no… You’re not! Actually, you’re not at all! Come, we’ll have another chat!« a friendly gesture invited us to the door behind which a yellow light was shining. »Oh,« I said, »thank you, but I’d like to take some more photos from Trava before the storm reaches us.« The breath of the storm was already more noticeable, getting closer. »Alright, hurry, but when you return, and if the light is still on, you must come by again!« I thanked and promised not to leave the valley without saying goodbye.

The Natives on the Land with »Oil«

In Trava, the storm then raged, the downpour drummed on the car body, no photography was possible, and as my »driver« and I returned, we indeed sought refuge in the hospitable light by the road, where we encountered even more determination that there would be no wind turbines on Parg; that the residents of Dragarska Valley would not allow the degradation and destruction of their living environment and the nature they have lived in for generations.

Parg in the fog. In the north, Parg extends to Lazec, below which Dragarska Valley stretches southward. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

»Not just the hunters, ma’am, to be clear, not just the elder of this hunting family, who isn’t here with us at the moment—I don’t know, maybe you’ve already spoken with him—but everyone here can tell you, not just one, two, or three people as some would like to portray, but all the other residents as well, those who have lived here permanently and since forever, and those who have moved here later, or even those currently living elsewhere but have roots, and parents’ and grandparents’ houses here, whether they are renovating or have already renovated them. Most of us are against having these wind turbines destroy Parg, which, as you have surely been told, is the heart of our valley. I mean this seriously and tell you very seriously again, ma’am: Parg is the green heart of Dragarska Valley! This is our forest, which not only is home to all the wildlife, all the birds, the large carnivoras, everything that crawls, walks, and flies, but it is also our oxygen and our drinking water. This forest on Parg also protects us from the winds from Kvarner. It protects this land and all of us from erosion and devastation and is, especially during these so-called climate changes, of exceptional importance in the fight against them, right? We will not allow the destruction of our living environment; we will not live under wind turbines, we do not want and do not wish for this, do you understand?« comes a clear and determined gaze from across the table.

Of course, I understand, I really understand, I think, and listen to the calm, quiet gentleman, who had been silently reserved during the heated discussion, now speaking thoughtfully and reasonably about the enormous sums of money some believe are being offered across the border in Croatia for residents’ cooperation in wind farm ventures. »Yes,« I agree, »people are being sold false hopes and given information that one cannot believe anyone would fall for in 2024.«

»Money, ma’am, money, you know, it has power, terrible power; it completely blinds many people; it completely blinds their eyes and reason; and such people wake up, if ever, only when it is too late, and it hits them hard on the head, on their wallet, on everything they have and are, when they perhaps wake up and finally see where their blind trust and desire for quick profit have really led them. And anyway, you see where all this is going, how there’s only one truth, just wind turbines yes, yes, yes!« my neighbor reflects realistically, shaking his head, then turns curiously to me again: »How do you, coming from Ljubljana, ma’am, see us, the residents of Dragarska Valley, and all this happening here?«

»Well« I say, »I will write something about what I see and think.« Then I think it is right that I also answer a few questions tonight and share what constantly comes to my mind since being involved in this story. »Since you ask… like ‘Indians’, like natives, who live peacefully in some unspoiled part of nature, in your ‘reservation,’ now some have ‘smelled’ oil and are determined to get it at any cost. That is how I see you and everything happening here.«

»But why do you care? For us, who are here at the end of everything? For one Dragarska Valley, which most Slovenians don’t even know exists!?«

The »Lightness of Heart« on Silky Green Plains and Time That Nothing Urges

I hear the question, the persistent rain outside, the conversation at the other corner of the table, and my own thoughts, vividly flooded with memories from years ago when, on a hot early summer June afternoon, I first found myself here in the fresh greenery of this valley, in this air where you really breathe in ‘a vital assurance and lightness of heart’ with every breath, as Karen Blixen would say; among these grasses, through which the road winds and reaches to its very edge like the gentlest and most dreamy poetry. Not just to the edge of the path, but also to the edges of the soul and directly to the heart of every slightest sensitivity that finds itself here among them, these grasses, so dense and shiny that with their shimmering, trembling inflorescences in the wind, they weave genuine and unique meadows into astonishing, golden-hued, silky green plains from which you cannot tear your gaze and heart away, especially where they softly touch the densely green forest edge. Here, every heart truly beating for nature is almost overwhelmed with excitement when, sooner or later, at the right late afternoon hour, it sees something brown there and spots a bear calmly grazing and living as the crown of the local creation amidst all this beauty, or standing on its hind legs humanly touching what is happening around it; here is a world where mighty old linden or chestnut trees still stand by the chapels of Our Lady, and in every village, there are carefully tended houses and cottages with the most colorful flowers on the windows, trees, and gardens, where the sunny corners are still anciently colored and glow dark golden and copper with velvety fragrant phlox flowers, as it was once long ago at grandma’s, aunt Tilka’s, and uncle Hajnč’s, and at aunt Ivanka’s, making half the village smell intoxicatingly, and the long summer evenings and conversations under the stars permeated with this warm scent of heartfelt certainty, loving closeness, serene peace, and time that nothing, absolutely nothing, hurries.

»…sooner or later, at the right time in the late afternoon or evening, you will see something brown there and spot a bear, peacefully grazing and living as the crown of creation amidst all this beauty…« // Photo by: Ana Ašič

»That’s why,« I say, speaking aloud some of what permeates my thoughts, »to see what is true and what is not, and whether people know anything about all this; that’s why I’m here.«

A calm gaze still questioningly waits for me to say more. »And yes, because when I look at all these beautiful, unique, unspoiled places, where life in all this remoteness is wonderful for us who come and go, but for living here day in and day out, it is surely also hard and full of sacrifices, yet you persist, keep these villages and places alive, tend to and care for the land and forests and nature. Wherever I go, I hear people telling me: ‘It’s hard, but at least we live in health and beauty, in nature and peace, and that is worth a lot, outweighing much of what we don’t have.’ But now, all these humble, hardworking people who lack the comforts we have in cities but accept this to live their peaceful and simple life, even if remote, in the way they have always lived and wished to live—now these people are about to be stripped of the only thing they have left: peace, tranquility, nature, their way of life, and essentially, life itself! This is happening all over Slovenia right now. It’s unbearable! I can’t believe this is really happening! That’s why I’m here, investigating all these areas.«

»Worse than Nothing. Destruction!«

»For that reason?« others at the table turn to me now.

»Yes,« I reply, »because when I put myself in their place, it’s horrifying to see how this just befalls people! Out of nowhere! And there’s no one here to stand up for the people, nature, or the truth, because as the gentleman here rightly said,« I turn to my neighbor on the left, »now everyone is playing the same tune: wind turbines yes, yes, yes!«

And I think about how in this escalating and galloping uniformity, nothing matters anymore; how no one cares, least of all the local and European ‘greens’ of all kinds, professional environmentalists, various ‘greenpeacers,’ and others comfortably lounging under the umbrella of the ‘green’ transition, far from the reality and distress they are causing locally with their indifference and uncritical, unfiltered, obsessive-compulsive insistence on corporate and politically corrupt ‘green’ placement of ‘renewable’ sources wherever they please. They don’t care what they are doing to real, living people who, like them, yearn for a peaceful and dignified life and strive for it every day by caring for nature and living in harmony with it. Meanwhile, they leisurely sip their intoxicatingly profitable ‘mojito,’ fervently poured and refilled by those who only care about making billions from these wind ‘air’ projects. No one cares anymore about any Habitat Directive, the Aarhus Convention, the Bern Convention, or the fact that Slovenia doesn’t even have a valid noise regulation. Democracy and transparency in procedures are retreating in all these contexts in true totalitarian fashion to this wind ‘goal that sanctifies the means.’

And furthermore, I think to myself, this is indeed pure violence! A kind of modern ‘revolutionary violence’ under the ideological guise of a ‘green’ transition, I ponder, as I have often thought each time I meet the desperate residents of areas overrun by ‘green’ profiteers with their local and national government and non-government accomplices.

»And because I am shocked,« I say aloud, »at how these interests and politics and the entire bureaucracy don’t care if this nature, with all the cut-down forests, and all this land, with thousands of cubic meters of reinforced concrete poured into it, is forever destroyed; they don’t care if they drive you out with all this and destroy everything that is most important and dear to you and invaluable; no one cares about the long-term consequences for this part of the country. For them, it’s something far away that doesn’t matter, as long as they collect the money; they don’t care about anything else. They plan to achieve this by getting some ‘Indian’ with a weaker will and a predisposition for ‘firewater’ drunk; by pouring the poisons of false promises into people’s ears; by sowing discord among people; by fueling the fire of what people could afford with some imaginary profit, even though they know they don’t need it, and that in the end, none of these promises will come true and ‘worse than nothing,’ as Diego Loredan would say, it will be one big ‘destruction’!”

»Palestinians« from Dragarska Valley. And »Netanyahu«.

I think again about how this happens everywhere they want to impose this wind business on people; how this Slovenian state, which long ago forgot it exists for its citizens, with controversial corrupt practices and megawatt bribery of municipalities, prostitutes and exploits the financial plight of these most remote and therefore vulnerable places and people in every way; how they heap promises on the flames of longing and dreams, sweetly and ingratiatingly whispering like a snake in the Garden of Eden, but in reality, cold-bloodedly and ruthlessly pursue only their goal, which, if realized, will be totally bitter not only for those who fall for it, not only for this wonderful nature and environment, not only for the people of Dragarska Valley but for everyone, for all of Slovenia, all of Europe, the whole world, we will all lose another dozen invaluable pieces of nature, biodiversity, the very thing that the various ‘green’ politicians, professional pseudo-environmentalists, and declarative animal lovers are full of, of course, until some Drava Power Plants transfers a donation to them. Their concern for protecting and preserving nature and the environment apparently starts somewhere in the middle of the ocean or the Amazon, in the Arctic and Antarctic, or the other end of the Balkans, on the Danube, Drina, and Bojana, but not where it really matters: right here, as soon as you step out of your own house and your own yard!

To the south, Parg with its pristine nature extends all the way to Podplanina and the source of the Čabranka River, which forms the border with the neighboring Republic of Croatia. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

Yes, here in Dragarska Valley and throughout Slovenia, where they impose this devastation with wind turbines on people and nature, the story is always the same: unsuspecting locals are faced with completely heartless opportunists who only care about their own benefits and profits. Using unacceptable manipulations and, most horrifically, with the support of Slovenian corrupt and sold-out government and non-government individuals and state institutions that should protect nature, its biodiversity, a healthy environment, and the living space and lives of people, they impose permanent destruction of nature and the complete devaluation of the living environment of people and all living things.

Now everyone, all seven people, fall silent, the silence settles over the table, and for a few moments, we each delve into our own thoughts. Outside, the storm continues to rage with undiminished power, but everything else is quiet, even the nearby road is deserted.

»Well, we can call all this that, ma’am,« finally says the previously mentioned calm gentleman on my left, clearly, I cannot write his name; and I cannot name these people, who in this small local environment are exposed to all the whims and mercies, to avoid putting them in even more distress; »I mean what you mentioned about the natives, the ‘Indians,’« he says slowly, »we can put it in more current words: you know, we could also say that this is essentially a kind of ‘Palestine’; we, here in Dragarska Valley, are actually a kind of ‘Palestinians,’ without ‘Hamas,’ of course, while in Loški Potok there’s ‘Netanyahu,’ or some of those ‘Netanyahus’ who, as you have already noted, absolutely do not care about us, even more, they simply want to destroy us and evidently do not intend to stop until they achieve that! How else can we explain that seven or eight years ago, we clearly said we did not want wind turbines on Parg, and now there is a mobile measuring device from the Drava Power Plants on its top, measuring the wind, while secretly preparing plans for the construction of the Parg Wind Farm!?«

What can a reasonable and sincere person respond to this, I think. »Yes,« I finally say, »you will have to be very strong, persistent, and determined, it is all starting anew again.«

Anxiety in Loški Potok

Only now there is a truly brutal investor who can no longer boast that he is working for the good of his citizens; he can no longer camouflage himself behind municipal and ‘cooperative’ clichés and ‘coloring books,’ I ponder to myself as we return to Loški Potok late at night, in the dark and still heavy rain. Yes, now an investor has come to this municipality, a specialist in hydroelectric plants, who, with his team of electrical engineers and experts, knows very well that in Slovenian wind conditions, wind turbines are completely misguided and inefficient energy projects, interesting only because they are driven a thousand times more by millions of taxpayer euros from the mindless European ‘green’ agenda than by the wind; because an investor has set his sights on these places, who bulldozes over the will of the residents on Košenjak, on Ojstrica above Dravograd without any consideration; an investor who doesn’t care about natural values like Boč, Donačka Gora, or Macelj, all in Styria, where he comes from, where he is at home; will he now care about the nature, places, and people he has no connection to, who, in his view, are at the end of the world? For their good, he will work!?

In vain, too, are the local helpers who sold Parg and Mali Log above Loški Potok to the Drava Power Plants, and all those who entertain the idea of selling Gora above Sodražica, Veliki Vrh on Bloke, Mala Gora above Ribnica, and all other hills and peaks, it will not turn out as they now think it will. No one who sells and betrays their own home, their own mother, their own everything, and what they were, in the end, finds neither happiness, nor pleasure, nor solace in what they have so fervently chased after! It has always been this way since time immemorial and always will be. Here in Loški Potok. And everywhere in Slovenia.

Not so long ago, the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Draga was the center of an independent parish, but today it is affiliated with the parish of Loški Potok. The Crucifix on the facade of the church is a beautiful sculptural work made of wood. The green surrounding it is a noticeable feature of the crosses in the Loški Potok area, as here, the Suffering Christ on the cross is often adorned in green, which could very simply be interpreted as an ancient commitment of these people and places to the »green«, but of course, in a noble and sacred way! // Photo by: Ana Ašič

How true this is, we can already see and feel every day in our beautiful country »on the sunny side of the Alps«, where the sun mainly shines only for those who profit from it; and for those who have sold themselves and everything valuable here to anyone, just to get a few pennies. The devastation they cause, the struggling, apathy, and anxiety, which are always present where there is powerlessness and fear, followed by silence, will eventually affect even those who now, in their self-assuredness, may think and truly believe they are untouchable. But no one is. Because anxiety works quietly and invisibly, without odor, slowly, persistently, unstoppably, and inevitably seeps through everything, like a treacherous war poison that corrodes from within, until it consumes, breaks down, and destroys everything beyond recognition. We can already see much of this day by day around us in this increasingly melancholy, politically criminal, and irreversibly anxious country.

And here, in Loški Potok, there is an unusually large amount of this, I think, as we are near Travnik; and even though the people in the center of the Loški Potok municipality will not be affected by the wind turbine in Mali Log and the wind farm on Parg and everything that comes with it, clearly, since those pushing the turbines and expecting to profit from them live right here – they will not be the ones, the great »thinkers« and »developers,« to sleep poorly, expose themselves to destructive low-frequency noise and infrasound, and see the ugly, red-flashing industrial monsters when they come home to rest and recharge for the weekend – despite the fact that these destructive projects, now being planned hand-in-hand with ambitious Styrians by their »potent« compatriots with their cooperative prompters, do not directly concern the residents in the central part of the municipality, indirectly they will, sooner or later, and very much so; nevertheless, it is much more anxious here than in Dragarska Valley.

»Who do You Take Us For, Ma’am!?«

It is true, however, that many residents here do not even know what is really being prepared in their vicinity. »Yes, there is some talk, but I don’t know, no one knows what will actually happen, no one says anything concrete,« I hear in several places when I engage in conversation with the locals. Therefore, there is also a lot of a certain kind of reticence and unease everywhere. Powerlessness. Cautious, sometimes also fearful distrust. Evasion. Looking away. A certain kind of intimidation. And, of course, the silence that people resort to in such an atmosphere and in such a small local environment. Everywhere here, on Hrib and around it, in Travnik, Šegova Vas, Loška Srednja Vas, Retje, in Mali Log, among these otherwise very friendly and also talkative people, at least with me, they were like that, there is also an incredible amount of unspoken words and a kind of forced silence; old, who knows how long it has been accumulating here, but also quite fresh »silencing«.

Three flashes of lightning simultaneously split the sky as we drive past the roadside inn in the »quiet, dark night, when outside rages a storm,« as Peter Lovšin sings, and I think about how a few days earlier, when I mentioned the wind turbine here, the hearty gentlemen, foresters, and locals ignored the word wind turbine, wind turbines, and the sentence and question about it twice and steered the conversation completely elsewhere, once towards Jelenov Žleb and the second time towards Medvedjek and the cyclists and motorcyclists who, despite the warning signs about the danger due to logging in the forest, do not stop at all, apparently do not hear, do not perceive, and do not understand what the sound of a chainsaw means, and apparently do not care that something might happen to them; »and who will be responsible for that then!«

Of course, I immediately recognize and understand the response of these clever people; and probably also quite inadvertently, but kindly message; but in the end, after a long conversation about the forest and wood and everything that is happening with them now, and also for that reason, I still clearly and loudly ask: »Are you also members of the Wood Cooperative?« Instantly, there was such silence that you could hear only a bee flying from flower to flower on the shaded terrace. The previously somewhat relaxed smiling faces grew serious, but no one blinked or averted their eyes from my gaze for even a second. Slowly, one by one, they shook their heads. »You won’t find those among us, ma’am, we have nothing to do with them, who do you take us for!?« »Why!? Doesn’t the cooperative do a lot of good for this area and the municipality?« »Yes, yes,« they nod meaningfully to each other, »a lot of good it does…« And after a while: »For some..« these words are accompanied by a slight gesture, a familiar motion that skillfully and lightly turns the hand back, finally pointing the fingers towards themselves. The same gesture I encountered on the same sunny day in three other places with the same question.

The flashes do not cease, and as we drive through Hrib in this rainy night, the large Amarok and other off-road vehicles and cars are no longer in front of the multi-purpose building, right there, where the Loški firefighters are now also housed. That day, there was a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok at seven in the evening. The first this year. In this multi-purpose municipal building, the Wood Cooperative now has its premises, as the Municipality has rented the space to them right here. Its headquarters is still at the same address as the Municipality of Loški Potok. This is Hrib – Loški Potok 17.

Birth of a Cooperative Without Responsibility

The Wood Cooperative Loški Potok was founded on January 14, 2016, at the first General Assembly of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok. As can be seen from the one-page and four-line Establishment Act, the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok, z.b.o., a cooperative without responsibility, was established on this day at the founding general assembly by the founders Municipality of Loški Potok, represented by the then-mayor Ivan Benčina, who has been living in Ljubljana for several decades, where he also has his own computer company BNA d.o.o., but is originally from Travnik near Loški Potok; the second co-founder is Marko Grandljič, an independent woodcutting entrepreneur, also from Travnik; and the third co-founder, as an individual, joined them, Tomaž Zver, then still from Osredke in Dol near Ljubljana.

The inhabitants of these areas in the present-day municipality of Loški Potok have always lived with wood, on wood, and from wood. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

In 2016, the founders elected Marko Grandljič as the president of the Wood Cooperative. Rok Levstek from Hrib – Loški Potok was appointed to the Supervisory Board of the cooperative.

The very next day, on January 15, 2016, all three founders were in Ljubljana at Davčna ulica 1, at the notary Meta Zupančič‘s office. Zupančič, a former politician from the ranks of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and Minister of Justice from 1994 to 1997, was notorious for her role in 1996/97 when she organized only a provisional internal competition for the judicial palace, then instead of buying the land herself at a favorable price, she let Ivan Zidar purchase the agreed location in Zupančičeva jama with SCT. He then set extortionate conditions for building the judicial palace turnkey to her ministry. Not just in November and December 2023, but even in the 1990s, such deals flourished in the judiciary, with some benefits for you, some for me, and quite a bit for the party, which put the right people in the right places. This notary, on January 15, 2016, under number OV 82/2016, certified the Establishment Act of the Wood Cooperative or the authenticity of the founders’ signatures, as well as the 16-page Rules of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok, z.b.o., a cooperative without responsibility.

Changes in Rules, Membership, and Other Turbulence in the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok

According to public legal records of AJPES, these rules underwent some changes on December 13, 2018, at the cooperative’s general assembly. The most significant change was perhaps the cooperative’s acquisition of the status and title of a social enterprise, which, as mentioned earlier, opens up a large »maneuvering space« for obtaining public, state, and European funds. The document »Amended Rules of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok, z.b.o., so. p.« and the attached list of cooperative members show that between January 14, 2016, and December 13, 2018, an additional 19 legal and natural persons joined the three original founders, making the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok count 22 members by December 13, 2018.

The then-mayor of Loški Potok, Ivan Benčina, who led the municipality from 2014 to 2022 and co-founded the Wood Cooperative in this role, apparently had a lot of faith in the cooperative. In the same year, on October 12, 2016, he joined as a private individual; his municipal referent for communal and economic activities and the environment and space, Sašo Debeljak, the son of Benčina’s strong supporter Janez Debeljak from Mali Log, did the same. Janez Debeljak, the father of Sašo Debeljak, had personally proposed Ivan Benčina as a candidate for the mayor of Loški Potok in 2014.

Two more Debeljaks, brothers from Hrib – Loški Potok, who shall be not related to the father and son from Mali Log, are in the cooperative. One is an independent entrepreneur, Janez Debeljak, who joined as an individual on December 15, 2016, and as an independent entrepreneur, Johnles, Janez Debeljak s.p., a year later on December 29, 2017.

His brother, Simon Debeljak, joined as an individual on July 24, 2017, and soon became and remained the president of the Supervisory Board of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok for several years while also being a municipal councilor; and, as a matter of fact, Simon Debeljak is married to the sister of Sašo Debeljak and the daughter of Janez Debeljak from Mali Log! So, the then-mayor’s Ivan Benčina’s great supporter Janez Debeljak is a father-in-law of Simon Debeljak, a current mayor of Loški Potok! All in the Family!

Another municipal councilor and member of the cooperative was Tone Levstek. More than half of the municipal administration was also members of the Wood Cooperative: its director Viljem Vesel, Sašo Debeljak, and civil protection advisor Vinko Košmerl.

After the local elections in 2022, Simon Debeljak, a mechanical engineer and head of development at Riko in Ribnica, became the part-time mayor of Loški Potok, replacing the full-time mayor Ivan Benčina, who took over as president of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok. This ensured the continuation of municipal-cooperative inseparability, continuity, »friendly cooperation«, and »peaceful coexistence«, reminiscent of the »non-aligned« era.

Thus, just like Ivan Benčina before him, Simon Debeljak is present in the Wood Cooperative both as a representative of the Municipality of Loški Potok and as a private member of the cooperative. Ivan Benčina, the former mayor, is now, as mentioned, the president of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok. The director of the Wood Cooperative is still Darko Šega from Šegova vas.

Such a municipal-cooperative position of the former and current mayor is, to say the least, unhygienic, if not fundamentally a conflict of interest, in some »points« also incompatible with the mayoral function and morally and ethically questionable. Both claim that this is not true and that they have informal opinions from the relevant institutions, so these issues should be addressed by them.

The fact is that Article 26 of the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act is unequivocal in its first paragraph, stating: »A professional official may not engage in any professional or other activity intended to generate income or property benefits alongside their public function.«

Article 27 of the same Act is equally clear, stating in the first paragraph: »A professional official may not be a member or engage in the management, supervision, or representation activities in companies, business associations, cooperatives, public institutions, public funds, public agencies, and other entities of public or private law, except in societies, foundations, and political parties.« In the second paragraph of the same article: »A part-time official may not be a member or engage in the management, supervision, or representation activities in a public or private entity from the previous paragraph if their function involves direct supervision over their work.« The third paragraph of Article 27 explicitly states for mayors and deputy mayors: »The prohibition from the first paragraph of this article regarding membership or management, supervision, or representation activities in public institutions, public funds, public agencies, and other entities of public or private law applies to part-time mayors and deputy mayors who perform their function in a municipality that is founder-related, ownership-related, supervisory-related, or financially connected with the subjects from this paragraph.«

Ivan Benčina, president of the Loški Potok Wood Cooperative and former mayor, stands in front of the municipal multi-purpose building where the municipality has rented office space to the Wood Cooperative. On May 30th, they held their first Board of Directors meeting of the year there, the first one since the cooperative now has only 14 members. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

What specifically concerns the former mayor, who became the president of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok within less than two years after ending his mayoral function, is the first paragraph of Article 36 of the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act, which states: »Within two years after the termination of the function, an official in relation to the body or organization of the public sector where he/she performed his/her function, may not act as a representative of a business entity that has or establishes business contacts with this body or organization.«

In any case, for public legal entities, such as the Municipality of Loški Potok, the membership fee for joining the cooperative was 2,000 euros until 2018. For private legal entities and sole proprietors, such as Marko Grandljič and seven other entrepreneurs, mostly involved in logging activities, the fee was 1,000 euros, and for individuals like Tomaž Zver and eleven others in the cooperative, it was 200 euros. Regardless of the amount of the membership fee, each member of the cooperative had one vote in decision-making.

This remained so until the fall of 2023, when some rules were again changed, and the membership fee was standardized to an equal amount of 2,000 euros for everyone, which »spontaneously« led to a decrease in membership. As a result, the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok now only has 14 members. The names of these members are strictly kept secret and hidden from the public and »unauthorized« views. Updated information is also not available on AJPES; cooperative members cite the Data Protection Act, which is very questionable, as experts point out, and can only apply to the most personal data, but not to the names of members of such a cooperative combining public and private membership.

From Forestry and »Grounded« Wood Biomass to »Airy« Wind and Wind Turbines in Pristine Nature

In addition to all types of forestry and woodworking activities for which the founders registered the Wood Cooperative in 2016, the registration for electricity production in hydroelectric power plants, other electricity production, distribution, and trading of electricity, also stood out. When the rules of the Wood Cooperative were amended in 2018, in addition to the previously mentioned activities, as well as postal and heating activities, the scope of registered activities was expanded, particularly in the field of hospitality, hotel management, and tourism. In Article 3 of the amended rules, where the codes of categories and descriptors of registered activities are listed, it was explicitly added in the first sentence: »The cooperative carries out activities that promote the use of renewable energy sources and the development of the green economy.«

It should be mentioned that in December 2017, the Municipality of Loški Potok and the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok successfully implemented a district heating project using wood biomass, with wood chips from waste wood abundant in the surrounding forests supplied by one of the cooperative members. This way, all public buildings in the municipality are heated: the elderly home, the school, the multifunctional building, and the municipal building. Additionally, newly built, previously mentioned municipal multifunctional buildings and a building with apartments for young families were equipped with solar power plants. Thus, with district heating using wood biomass and solar panels, they managed to significantly reduce municipal heating costs by at least 20%, according to both the current and former mayors.

As perceived by the citizens, while they do not fundamentally dispute this, there are significant concerns about the funneling of municipal and thus public, taxpayer money into the private hands of cooperative members. This is particularly irritating regarding the postal services in Loški Potok, which are provided by the Wood Cooperative. Both the current and former mayors respond quite sensitively to this question, stating that, firstly, Loški Potok would otherwise lose the post office; and secondly, that the Municipality could not take over the post office itself as it is not allowed to engage in economic activities.

Experienced entrepreneurs, however, argue that this is merely an excuse and an argument that favors the »cooperative members« not just symbolically but significantly in practice since the Municipality of Loški Potok essentially covers the postal operations for the Wood Cooperative. »The Municipality could have established its own public enterprise to manage not only postal services but also public transport and other essential activities for the municipality, instead of transferring this to a private cooperative and thus channeling public money into private hands, where it then ‘invisibly’ redistributes and ‘disappears’ into who knows where!” say the determined opponents of such »management« in the municipality.

Simon Debeljak, the mayor of the Municipality of Loški Potok, a member of the Loški Potok Wood Cooperative and its former Chairman of the Supervisory Board, is a non-professional mayor. He is a mechanical engineer employed as the Head of Development at Riko in Ribnica. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

The current and former mayors of the Municipality of Loški Potok, who, as mentioned, are both cooperative members, insist that so far the members of the cooperative have not shared even a single euro of profit. This is somewhat logical and understandable for a »social enterprise«. More logical and unfortunately true is the fact that in such an enterprise, the flow of money and benefits to all those who »consume« them follows different established paths than in »ordinary« companies. This is also the essence of the popularity of »social enterprises«, especially their combination with »liability-free cooperatives« in some specific »political-business« associations.

However, the rich harvest still awaits the cooperative members of Loški Potok, or so they believe, as they are »carried away« by the wind. And the wind essentially guides them, as it was the wind turbines that were the key motivation for the founders, who otherwise hid behind wood and the wooden name and a few members with woodworking interests and activities. What brought them together is the »green« money from expensive »green« wind energy and wind turbines, which are supposed to rise in the municipality of Loški Potok so that the »cooperators« can finally get a euro.

One wind turbine with a capacity of one megawatt is supposed to be installed above Mali Log. For this purpose, the municipality changed its municipal spatial plan. It also paid for wind measurements in Mali Log, with some reports indicating a total amount of 145,000 euros, 80,000 euros to a Slovenian company, and 65,000 euros to the Austrians. Aleš Pučnik, a graphic designer and self-proclaimed the »sustainable visionary« — the man from Styria who »owns« the two wind turbines in Razdrto, who once wanted to scatter the Javorniki with wind turbines, and who, with DOPPS (Bird Watching and Research Association of Slovenia) and Pipistrel, is supposedly developing a wind turbine that will stand on twolegs and rotate in a circular perimeter and »will not disturb birds and create infrasound« — well, he and his company Helikopter energija s.p. were supposedly paid around 20,000 euros by the municipality for a professional Wind Potential Study. For the study, which was the basis for changes to the spatial plan and other spatial placements of the wind turbine above Mali Log, the Cerknica-based Studio Formika, comprising architect Nejc Gosak and biologist Mateja Želko Gosak, was paid more than 27,000 euros by the Municipality of Loški Potok. Mrs. Želko Gosak is uniquely original, among other things, because there are very few architectural design firms in the world with a biologist as the director, and the biology professor signs as the responsible designer under statements of compliance of documentation and similar.

All of this was financed by the municipality, even though it was only one twenty-second invested in the Wood Cooperative, which was still the investor in the wind turbine in Mali Log at the time. Former mayor Ivan Benčina then brought The Drava Power Plants Maribor (Dravske elektrarne Maribor, DEM) to the municipality in 2022, and the Wood Cooperative transferred the wind turbine project above Mali Log to them, apparently staying involved with a small share, which is why Benčina is still so driven by this project. The municipality now, as both mayors say, has nothing more to do with it.

»So where will the 200,000 euros per megawatt actually end up? Will it go to the Municipality of Loški Potok or the Wood Cooperative?« I ask Ivan Benčina. He replies, »Of course, the municipality will receive it, but it would be right for the Wood Cooperative to get something from it as well. We take care of the heating of public buildings with DOLB (district heating with wood biomass), we take care of the post office; and we do a lot of good for this municipality. It would be right to distribute this amount… 8 times 25,000 euros… it could go for postal services, about as much as the municipality now covers our annual costs for the post office, from 22 to 25,000 euros.«

Not only the citizens of Loški Potok and Slovenian citizens in general, but also someone at the ministry distributing these wind turbine incentives to municipalities should perhaps take a look at all this and seriously consider it. Or is it already very clear to everyone? And is that why it is so cleverly designed and implemented!?

Clever Cooperative Energy Guru, the »Grand Master« with a »Dream Life« in Štanjel

As seen in the Erar application, from January 14, 2016, when the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok was established, to January 2024, the Municipality of Loški Potok transferred 32,494 euros to someone else! That is Kisik d.o.o.(Oxygen LTD., in English, editor’s note) a company that created the Local Energy Concept for the Municipality of Loški Potok on the municipality’s order and payment. The founder of this company is Tomaž Zver, who, along with Ivan Benčina and Marko Grandljič, was a »modest« co-founder of the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok with a 200-euro contribution. One of the first three! But crucial!

»When the student is ready, the teacher appears,« Ivan Benčina replied with an old Chinese wisdom to my question of how they came up with the idea of establishing the Wood Cooperative in the municipality, »and so it was in Loški Potok! When we were ready and far enough along with our thinking about how to do something to utilize local resources for the municipality’s energy self-sufficiency, Tomaž Zver appeared, who already mastered and understood all this in the field of cooperatives and energy, and he suggested that we establish such a cooperative.«

The intriguing dilemma and rhetorical question of Master Yoda from Star Wars, »Who is the master? And who is the apprentice?« does not apply here in Loški Potok. It is clear who.

Tomaž Zver has been one of the key players from the very beginning in everything that is supposed to happen to the residents of Dragarska dolina and Mali Log. He is also from Styria, like the aforementioned »sustainable visionary«, but at the time of establishing the Wood Cooperative Loški Potok, he had a permanent address in Osredki in Dol near Ljubljana and apparently lived very idyllically there until his wife Alenka Zver, who has the company O2, found first one cute house in Štanjel, which they bought and then renovated with the help of rural development funds from the Ministry of Agriculture, and soon after they found and bought another, even cuter house with a charming courtyard in Kobdilj, under Štanjel. Within three years, they bought two houses, where rural development funds quickly came to their aid again, even during the renovation; so now Villa Kobdilj has been established here; and the Zvers, with a house in the magical core of Štanjel and the »fairytale« renovated Villa in Kobdilj, now »live their dreams in the Karst«.

Will the local community kneel before the energy octopus that imposes and blackmails with wind turbines over Mali Log and Parg!? And elsewhere!? Will other »beasts« settle in this unique habitat of large carnivores!? Will the relevant institutions for the protection and preservation of nature support them, or will they stand upright, morally and ethically, for nature, for people, and for the life of Dragarska Valley, Loški Potok, and Mali Log!? How cynical it is that someone involved in degrading nature names their company Oxygen! That alone says it all! // Photo by: Ana Ašič

Tomaž Zver is an »experienced« former official of the Ministry of Public Administration, with very strong state and local, political, interest, and bureaucratic connections. He is deeply involved in the invisible, highly entangled, thoughtfully structured, and insatiable business-political network of the former Liberal Democracy of Slovenia. This network is largely responsible for the »refreshing« of the Cooperatives Act, written »visionarily« more than a decade ago to best facilitate, cover, and obscure not only the real intentions behind the placement, exploitation, and profiteering from renewable resources but also the clever diversion of public, state, and European money into private, interest, and political channels, thus granting legitimacy to all these activities.

From 2009 to 2012, Zver was in the cabinet of the then Minister from the Zares party, Irma Pavlinič Krebs from Koroška. For the past 12 years, he has been a very influential cooperative energy guru, proclaiming, promoting, and implementing the cult myth and practice of a new green-colored collectivist social engineering throughout Slovenia. This green social engineering cleverly cloaks the aggressive interests of profiteers in renewable energy and other political crimes under the guise of working for the community’s good and the »green« transition. They bet everything they have, or better yet, what they don’t have, and all they hope to gain or take at others’ expense, on energy cooperatives (or housing cooperatives in the housing sector), established under the Cooperatives Act, while also cunningly operating as social enterprises. This extends the range and scope of public, state, and European funds that can be channeled through such a cooperative into secret »watersheds« of private interests.

The Cooperative Network of the Zares (»True«) Party’s »True« Liberal Democracy

With skillful positioning and lobbying in the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia, Zver has successfully positioned himself in several Slovenian municipal or local cooperative projects. Through his consulting firm Kisik d.o.o., a name chosen by his wife Alenka, just like her company O2, he diligently assists in »targeting« state and European subsidy and other grant funds, and takes shares in these »his« cooperatives. This gives him plenty of time for long vacations and »four-month jeep trips to Mongolia«, as described in a charming family story in the Jana magazine on July 19, 2022, if we put it lightly.

On a closer look, however, the playful humor quickly fades, as these are indeed serious »businesses« that »mystically«, almost »alchemically« transform millions of public taxpayer money into private funds.

In this sense, one of the earlier such energy cooperatives in Slovenia, the Sun Cooperative, is interesting. It is a cooperative without liability and a social enterprise, established on March 13, 2013, at Tomaž Zver’s then address at Sneberska 15a in Ljubljana – Polje, where he is also the director. The founders include the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia, represented by General Secretary Jasmina Vidmar; Bogdan Biščak, the influential former General Secretary of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia; Robert Ravnihar from Železniki, a controversial business-political-scientific »surfer« on the wave of »spin-offs« and director of the rather notorious company Ventura; Matjaž Medved, a business consultant from Štihova in Ljubljana; Miha Marinšek, an »athlet« and business developer who found his calling in energy businesses; and Gregor Kita, the famous city councilor from Trbovlje for the Zares party and former mayoral candidate, who at the age of 40, in 2014, physically attacked and injured his 63-year-old neighbor Tina Lukač, resulting in her ending up in the injury department of the Trbovlje hospital.

Of course, in the establishment of this cooperative, as in all where Tomaž Zver is involved, the notary matters were handled by the mentioned politician of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former Minister of Justice Meta Zupančič.

To bring things back to earth from »green« and »social« ideals, it’s worth mentioning that, according to officially available data, the Sun Cooperative received 1,667,530.37 euros from the Ministry of Infrastructure alone between January 20, 2015, and December 7, 2022, for »renewable sources« and »investment transfers to private companies«. It is interesting that data for other ministries are hidden, obscured, or inaccessible, at least to us.

It is also interesting to note that the Sun Cooperative z.b.o., so.p. from Sneberska cesta 15A in Ljubljana has, besides a transaction account at Delavska hranilnica, two transaction accounts at Posojilnica Bank Egen in Austria.

Of course, the Sun Cooperative from Ljubljana and the Wood Cooperative from Loški Potok are not the only cooperatives where Tomaž Zver is involved. He is also the president of the Development Cooperative Jezersko, established in 2018, which is a cooperative with limited liability, its main activity being »forest management and other forestry activities«. Additionally, as the »Grand Master« and energy guru, Tomaž Zver is involved in energy and other cooperatives across Slovenia, operating through his consulting company Kisik d.o.o., where the list of public money transfers coming to Kisik’s account includes: the Ministry of Agriculture, the municipalities of Radovljica, Loški Potok, Kamnik, Šalovci, Šentrupert, Radlje ob Dravi, Sodražica, Rogaševci, Preddvor, Vuzenica, Lovrenc na Pohorju, Mirna, the utility companies Komunala Trebnje, Energetika Šentrupert, the Center for Development Litija, the Employment Service of Slovenia, the Social Welfare Institution Hrastovec, the University of Maribor, the Eco Fund, the Slovenian Environmental Public Fund, the Land of Hayracks Šentrupert, the Ministry of Finance, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, and Drava Power Plants (Dravske elektrarne Maribor).

Mists are descending on Parg, on Dragarska Valley, on the entire municipality of Loški Potok. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

»Shadows in the Paradise« of Loški Potok

As we drive through Bloke at half past midnight, past the turnoff for Volčje, and further towards Lužarji, the rain stops, but the storm is not yet over. Lightning still flashes among the dark, threatening clouds, but occasionally, large stars shine through. »Stop by that forest path for a moment so I can get out and breathe some of this fresh air,« I say, pulling up my hood and zipping up my windbreaker. The fragrant forest air, scented with moss, young ferns, greenery, and spruce needles, instantly drives away my fatigue as we walk quickly along the dark path. In the deeper part of the forest, the drizzle is joined by drops falling from the branches, and my thoughts quickly clear in the refreshing coolness of the last night of May.

After a good half an hour, we return, and in the soothing hum of the engine and the comfort of the slightly heated car, my thoughts keep returning to Loški Potok. To its unique, dramatic image with two little churches on Tabor, and to its enigmatic and oppressive atmosphere, so dense that even from this distant part of Bloke, it feels like a great and dear, yet shadowed image of the incomprehensible and unspoken. And always to the drama that is felt and sensed, happening right now in the mists of the unseen and unsaid.

I think of the moment when, around seven that evening, I stepped out of the bar at the municipality to call the mayor and saw him on the terrace, at a table, amidst a cloud of smoke. »Oh, I’m calling you!« I say. He replies, »I see.« He invites me to sit down and offers me a coffee. »We don’t have time for that,« I say, »you are already late for the Board of Directors meeting of the Wood Cooperative! And we agreed that I would photograph you as the current mayor, not just the former one!« »Ah,« he waves his cigarette slowly and says, »I won’t miss anything; it’ll be fine.« He murmurs something about »one item he needs to be there for«.

Since I had thoroughly read the Rules of the Wood Cooperative of Loški Potok beforehand, I know there is no point in wasting time and energy asking which item it is, as he won’t say anything, because he can’t; otherwise, he could be expelled from the cooperative. Nothing that happens in the Wood Cooperative of Loški Potok or its boards can be disclosed by its members to anyone, even if and when they leave the cooperative. Really, a true »Cosa Nostra«, I think to myself somewhat »cinematically«.

»Well,« I say, »it makes sense that you need to be present at the Board meeting as the mayor and representative of the Municipality, which is also a member of the cooperative, right? You are no longer the President of the Supervisory Board, but you are still a member?« »No, no, I’m not,” he says, lighting a new cigarette.

»Is it hard for you?« I ask him. For a moment, there is a hint of surprise, but the mayor of Loški Potok quickly recovers: »Why would it be hard for me?« »I don’t know,« I say, »you don’t seem the happiest«. »I’m fine, I’m good,« he looks past me for a moment. »Why didn’t you call me earlier?« he asks. »I did,« I say, »right after the turnoff for Mali Log, as we agreed, but you were unreachable. I thought you were scared of me.« »No, why would I be scared of you!? You won’t write anything that would harm us, right!?« he looks at me.

We are silent for a bit. Neither of us looks away. »I will write what is true, Simon. The truth, at least in the long run, only helps, the truth cannot harm,« I say, »no one, not even those who don’t want it, or think it harms them in one moment, in the end, the truth only helps and benefits,« I say, »and for both of us, it’s about these people here, about these beautiful places of yours, about all this unspoiled nature, which is actually your greatest wealth; and also about the truth of all this, right!?«

He looks at me a bit distantly: »The day before yesterday, you accused me of not caring about people,« he is still not over it because, during a two-hour phone call about the wind turbine in Mali Log, I said: »But, Mr. Mayor, you can’t be indifferent! Don’t you care about these people who will have to live with it, not even knowing well what will happen to them!?« He didn’t understand it as a question but as a categorical statement and obviously unjust words. »I see that you do care,« I say slowly, »but why, then, as the mayor and as a cooperative member, do you participate in all this!?«

He puts out the cigarette and immediately lights a new one. »You said you want to write the truth? You will write about what is true!?« he asks me and watches me through the smoke for a while, then tells me what he already told me two days ago; and I see and hear and understand that it is indeed important for him, for this place, for this municipality.

The Tragedy of Remote Municipalities

»If you want to tell the truth, then write, tell people, all of Slovenia, how difficult it is for us in such peripheral, border municipalities, not just in Loški Potok, but also in all other municipalities that are very small in population but large in the area they cover; with villages and hamlets very far from each other, where we must ensure roads, electricity, water supply, communications, and heating in public buildings everywhere. We must maintain all this in all weather conditions, in drought and heat, and in the heaviest snow and cold, which here, in Loški Potok, sometimes lasts eight months a year! We are too small, we have too few residents, so in many tenders, we ‘fall through’ and are left without the urgently needed funds to maintain everything that the municipality and residents need. In our municipality, which covers more than 134 square kilometers, a bit less than the Municipality of Maribor, which has more than 110,000 residents in an almost similar area (147 square kilometers, editor’s note), in our municipality of Loški Potok, on a similar area, there are only about 1,800 residents! Due to the small number of residents, the per capita funding we receive is low. So, here in these places, we have to manage as best we can to survive. And, yes, when you asked me, for us, 200,000 euros offered for one megawatt is a lot of money, we can solve many things with it.«

The first and oldest settlement in Dragarska Valley is Trava, where the Gottscheer Germans, the “forest farmers,” as they called themselves on the memorial plaque of the Church of the Visitation of Mary in Draga, settled around the Church of St. Lawrence in the 14th century. The church was burned down during World War II and is now in ruins. From the slopes of Parg, beautiful views of Draga open up through the trees. In Srednja vas, Dragarska Valley opens beautifully to the north in all its poetic charm, and its landscape speaks volumes about how any development on Parg, the slope to the left of the chapel, would be an explicit environmental and spatial crime. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

The pictures of recent decades come together, piece by piece. How perfidious and perverse, I think. Initially, larger and stronger municipalities in Slovenia were broken apart with false promises, empty hopes, utopian expectations, and under the guise of »European funds for local communities«, without any grounded judgment, prudent deliberation, or realistic financial projections. Meanwhile, those who lay in ambush, quietly and invisibly, waiting for the prey to become vulnerable and powerless, sharpened their devilish claws. This fragmentation created dozens of small municipalities in Slovenia, especially in the most peripheral and valuable areas of nature and landscape, with barely more than a few hundred inhabitants each. These municipalities now teeter on the edge of survival, plagued not only by a lack of financial resources but also by a shortage of personnel, not just for municipal administration and functions but also for various public services that the municipality must provide; not to mention the workforce needed to sustain economic activities, should the municipality manage to attract promising companies and employers.

In the municipality of Loški Potok, as in many other similar municipalities, people are not unemployed or poor in the conventional sense; they are not without work or means of survival, as they travel tens of kilometers to work in other municipalities and places if necessary. The municipalities, however, are poor, struggling to maintain everything under their purview; residents suffer from »public poverty«, meaning bad roads, water supply issues, and paradoxically, in the midst of the most pristine nature, problems with drinking water, proper sewage networks, and wastewater treatment, which is crucial in these areas to avoid further harm to nature, environment, and space. Additionally, they must provide health, education, postal services, and public transportation.

These municipalities are in a constant struggle for »survival«, completely dependent on state and European funds, making them more susceptible to bribery like the one currently being controversially handled by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Energy. The ministry, in a true corruption manner, bribes local communities with €200,000 per megawatt of renewable energy, particularly for wind turbines, disregarding the true will of directly affected residents, the environment, and even less the untouched nature. Their only goal is to fulfill the orders of their »masters« and the financiers of their comfortable political and bureaucratic positions.

When such municipalities were established in the nineties, someone had a very clear vision and knew very well how wonderfully advantageous it would be for them one day! They knew what kind of »Wild West« they would create! And then all that’s needed is to find the »right« local sheriffs, support them with a few assistants and »gunslingers«, who, just by existing in such an informally tightly controlled environment, push the already silenced population into complete silence! And they’ve won!

They only need to establish a cooperative, connect it to the municipal »refueling station« and to state and European funds for »green« and »social« projects that »support« the local area; and the celebration can begin! When they get tired and satiated with everything, since they work so hard for it, to avoid burnout because they still have to work insatiably for a long time, they retreat to the pristine wilderness and nature of Mongolia for four months! They shut themselves in a beautifully renovated courtyard in Kobdilj. From Štanjel, they gaze at the magical sunset, sip exquisite wine, and bask in the sun in the pleasant shelter in January and February! Thus, they live their peaceful, serene »dreams on the Karst« and create a fairy tale that no one and nothing must disturb or stop. Who cares what happens to those people out there in that »middle of nowhere«, in some Loški Potok, in Mali Log, in some Dragarska Valley, under some Parg! Throw something at their feet, let them pick it up, even fight over it! That’s best! To distract them with that! Meanwhile, we will execute our plans!

A Star Swarm in the Soul-Stirring Saga of Loški Potok.

But deep down, I can’t believe that Simon is truly, without reservations, one of them; he’s not the real »sheriff« of this story, I think, recalling everything we talked about on Tuesday and everything I saw that day, since he genuinely cares about his home and place. However, does he even know where he really is? Does he know that the shadow hovering over Loški Potok is the shadow of a vulture waiting for the wolves to finish their work on the ground; then it comes to claim its prey!? Does he know this!? At least suspect? God have mercy, I think, is that why this man poisons himself so much!? Cigarette after cigarette, with three young children at home, as he told me two days ago, who will need him alive, healthy, and strong for a long time. Is this burden of what’s happening in the municipality weighing so heavily on him? And in the country, which, as we all explicitly understand and have said a thousand times, lacks sensitivity, vision, and a real strategy for protecting and preserving nature, the environment, space, and people and their lives in these unique, peripheral, yet valuable areas and everywhere you look, all across Slovenia, everything is wrong, a single environmental and spatial crime. And here? What else is actually happening right now in Loški Potok? In the Wood Cooperative? And the municipality? Why doesn’t Simon Debeljak leave the cooperative? And take the reins of the municipality sovereignly into his own hands? Who? What is preventing him? Is being mayor really his »intimate option«? Or did he »have to« become one? Who really runs the municipality of Loški Potok? And where is it being led?

»Shall we go through Naredi and past Primož?« the question lightly disrupts me at the split in Lužarji. »Whatever you prefer,« I reply, as always, knowing that this shortcut will be chosen because this narrow, dramatic, dynamic, and winding forest road is this »car’s« favorite route; as well as mine.

Here, above Lužarji, the night has already cleared and bright stars have scattered across the entire sky, all the way to the last quarter of the moon, which at this late hour is already tipping towards the western horizon. A flurry of persistent questions still pierces my thoughts, a true star swarm, I think; it will take more drives on this road, many more returns to these places, which really don’t leave your mind and heart easily once they touch you, lies ahead. For many more great stories in this soul-stirring saga of »shadows in the paradise« of Loški Potok.

The world above Mali Log. // Photo by: Ana Ašič

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