Timber is a key trafficked commodity in Bulgaria – between a third to a quarter of all felled trees in the country are sold on the black market, with concerning links to Fraud & Corruption. In 2020, a Bulgarian independent media outlet – the Bureau for Investigative Reporting and Data – identified over 200 private companies that overexploited their permitted felling quotas, of which 20 to 30 were felling many times more wood than their permits allowed. According to the investigation, some had identifiable links to political parties and, as a result, were allowed to harvest more wood than others. In one incident, a forest inspector allegedly asked a company on site to provide proof of the wood quantities being hauled, but representatives of the company refused to do so. They were reportedly under the escort of a member of Parliament’s car. Furthermore, appointments of forest regulators are also allegedly handed out by well-connected and influential businesspeople involved in the logging business. Officials responsible for controlling logging operations may face losing their jobs if a particular company’s interests are threatened.