Employees of the state-owned vaccine and serum production company "Bul Bio - NTZPB" EAD staged another large-scale protest in Sofia.
The dissatisfaction was provoked by the company's critical financial situation and the blocked production of the vital BCG vaccine (against tuberculosis). The workers blocked traffic on “Yanko Sakazov“ Blvd. in the capital, demanding the immediate resignation of Executive Director Rumen Kofinov and the entire Board of Directors.
The main reason for the suspension of production is poor quality construction and repair of the new laboratory. An inspection by the World Health Organization (WHO), conducted at the end of March, found that the newly built assembly line and the purchased machines do not meet modern international standards for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). According to the unions from the "Podkrepa" trade union, the equipment is morally obsolete, which puts the export of preparations for the needs of UNICEF – the company's main client. Annually, nearly 32 million children worldwide, bTV News.
„The repair is under all criticism. The new ampoule line, for which huge sums were paid, turned out to be unusable and does not meet the requirements of the WHO. The process is blocked, and we are in real danger of losing markets built over decades“, commented angry representatives of the CT „Podkrepa“ during the protest actions cited in the report. The trade unionists emphasize that the management deliberately allowed these violations, while at the same time the salaries of highly qualified personnel have been frozen for a year and a half at levels of around 1000 - 1200 leva. Among workers also have serious concerns about hidden plans to transfer production technologies to Turkey.
The detailed financial analysis reveals a shocking breakdown in the management of the strategic state-owned enterprise. In just four years, “Bul Bio“ has been brought from a stable profit of 8 million leva in 2021 to a rapidly progressing financial collapse – the company closes the financial year 2025 with loss of over 572,000 leva. Despite the company's progressive sinking, hundreds of thousands of leva are allocated annually in the form of bonuses and salaries for the remuneration of the members of the board of directors, the health portal reports in its analysis Clinica.bg. The unions add that the lack of working capital is already threatening the supply of raw materials for other vital serums.
The Ministry of Health announced that the internal audit has already found a number of serious violations in the company. The results of the inspections, affecting the financial situation and repairs, have been officially sent to the National Police. Health Minister Katya Ivkova pledged that the department is preparing an emergency recovery plan for the financial stabilization of the enterprise in order to ensure the resumption of vaccine production, reports Mediapool.bg.