By the end of the year, Bulgaria expects the delivery of two additional medical helicopters, with three more set to arrive next year, Health Minister Silvi Kirilov announced during a media briefing on July 10. A total of seven air ambulances have been procured under a European funding program, and one has been purchased with national funds, he explained.
Minister Kirilov, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, and representatives from the European Commission visited the St. Ekaterina University Hospital for Active Treatment in Sofia. The visit was part of the implementation of a project under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) aimed at building an aerial emergency medical services system in Bulgaria.
Currently, two helipads are operational — one in Sofia and one in Sliven, the Health Minister noted.
“We’re facing organisational issues in Plovdiv, otherwise we already have three additional helipads — in Targovishte, Dolna Mitropoliya, and Gabrovnitsa (Montana region). In Sofia and Sliven, there will be two helipads each. We currently have 12 medical teams in service, and more are being prepared for Targovishte. Teams are also planned for Dolna Mitropoliya in the near future,” said Kirilov.
He added that Bulgaria has received assurances that the new helicopters will arrive on schedule, and that all aircraft will be equipped with winches.
Deputy Prime Minister Donchev highlighted that Bulgaria has already invested €2.6 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, adding:
"By the end of the year it will be at least doubled, we expect to reach at least 5 billion disbursed."
The visit to St. Ekaterina Hospital was part of a two-day mission of the European Commission in Bulgaria, led by Céline Gauer, Director-General of the Task Force for Reforms and Investments under the EC’s General Secretariat. The mission aims to discuss next steps for the timely implementation of planned reforms and investments following the amendment of Bulgaria’s RRP, approved on July 2. It also includes discussions on the submission of the second and third payment requests before the end of the year.
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