BSW Timber Group had already abandoned its plans for building a sawmill with an annual cutting capacity of 300,000 m³ of softwood logs in Gomilsko, Slovenia, back in December. According to information from Tomaž Žohar, mayor of Braslovce, the memorandum of understanding for the investment project signed by BSW, the Slovenian government, and the municipality of Braslovce in May 2018 has since been annulled. The local council has meanwhile given the go-ahead for a care home to be built on the grounds originally earmarked for the planned sawmill. According to Janez Mazej, who represents BSW Timber in Slovenia, the group is currently examining several alternative locations in Slovenia.
Žohar had already explained in November 2019 that the approval procedure would be delayed due to objections by residents against the land-use plan for the sawmill and its traffic links to the E57 trunk road. The objections to the project were founded on the destruction of agricultural areas and the ensuing HGV traffic to the sawmill. From the perspective of representatives in the sawmilling industry, the additional roundwood required for a sawmill of the proposed scale cannot be felled in the region. Most of the sawmills located there are currently unable to utilise their cutting capacities to the full due to a shortage of roundwood.
