There is a serious backlog in the construction of medical helicopter bases, warned the acting Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski.
The air emergency medical assistance system in our country is facing serious challenges due to delays in the construction of the necessary infrastructure, he added at a press conference dedicated to the progress of the medical helicopter project.
According to him, the investment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan includes two main components - delivery of a total of eight medical helicopters and construction of six permanent operational bases, which should ensure the logistics and organization of the air emergency assistance system. The goal is to create an effective national system that ensures rapid access to medical care in emergencies.
The Minister specified that at present some of the helicopters have already been delivered. One has been provided under the operational program “Regions in Growth“, four have been delivered under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, and three more are expected to arrive by June 2026. The machines have been distributed between Sofia, Sliven, Dolna Mitropolia and Balchik.
Despite the progress in the delivery of the helicopters, a serious problem remains the construction of the bases that should ensure their housing and operational readiness. Okoliyski emphasized that there is a significant backlog there. Some of the procedures are still at the administrative preparation stage, construction permits have not been issued for some of the bases, and in one place even land has not been provided.
The minister noted that two years after the start of the investment, the actual construction of the permanent bases has not yet begun. This calls into question the possibility of their completion within the planned deadlines.
According to him, the stage of preparation is different for the individual bases. A construction permit has been issued in Sliven, while for the base in the Montaza village of Gabrovnitsa there is only a design visa. The situation is similar for the base in Ruhovtsi. A construction permit is pending for Dolna Mitropolia, and there is also a design visa for Plovdiv. The main base in Sofia is to be built on property owned by the “Border Police“, and the procedure for providing the land has not yet been completed.
Okoliyski also presented photos of some of the land areas planned for the bases, pointing out that in some places the infrastructure is severely compromised. He gave the example of the road to the base in Gabrovnica, which is in poor condition, which raises doubts about whether access and logistics will be able to function normally.
According to the Minister of Health, this also raises a number of practical questions - how will the transport of personnel be ensured, how will the medical teams be motivated to work in these places and how will the daily functioning of the bases be organized.
Okoliyski emphasized that the time for the implementation of the project is limited, since the Recovery and Resilience Plan ends in 2026. According to him, no extension of the deadlines is envisaged and all activities must be completed by the summer of the same year.
The Minister of Health warned that the delay in the construction of the bases creates a risk that the entire investment will be compromised. If the project is not implemented on time, there is a risk that the country will lose European funding - about 6 million euros for the bases and over 80 million euros for the helicopters.
“Regarding the helicopters themselves, the situation is optimistic - they are available or about to be delivered. But the situation with the bases is worrying and this creates a real risk for the entire project,“ said Okoliyski.