Back in September from “We continue the change – Democratic Bulgaria“ (PP-DB) we stated that the Law on Public Procurement is in violation of European legislation and that private hospitals should conduct public procurements, PP-DB deputy Vasil Pandov told journalists on the sidelines of the parliament. Pandov recalled that this text was adopted in two readings in the health committee, as well as in the first reading in the plenary hall.
„At the second viewing in the plenary hall with the votes no GERB, DPS and “Vazrazhdane” of the re-voting, as well as of the BSP, this text was not adopted. We warned clearly – there will be sanctions for Bulgaria. What happened is that the EC, absolutely in confirmation of our arguments, started the procedure for sanctions against Bulgaria yesterday, Vasil Pandov also said.
Vice-Chairman of the Health Commission and MP from PP-DB Alexander Simidchiev stated that the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) was controlled by procedural tricks.
„This allows a group of political parties to have control over the spending of the Treasury, and there is no alternative to obtain information from the inside about which hospitals and how much they spend on similar procedures,” said Simidchiev.
He also explained that some of the hospitals use subcontractors and still manage to avoid conducting public procurement, which is why there is an uneven distribution of the resources of the NHIF and essentially - ineffective spending of health contributions.
Vasil Pandov also warned that there is a danger that the Bulgarians will pay sanctions to the EU if the legislation is not amended and called on the next parliament to comply with European norms.
On April 24, the European Commission announced that it was initiating a procedure against Bulgaria for non-implementation of EU legislation on public procurement. The procedure is related to the exclusion of private hospitals from public procurement rules, even when they are partially financed from the budget, the announcement noted. The named parties have two months to respond and remedy the deficiencies. It is specified that otherwise our country may be handed over to the Court of the EU.