Caretaker PM Andrey Gyurov: Cabinet’s Focus Remains on Safeguarding a Fair Vote

Three days before the elections, the government’s focus remains on safeguarding a fair vote, as there is no greater threat to a state and society than the “trade in democracy”, caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov said at the start of today’s cabinet meeting on April 16.

“Unfortunately, this is not the only market where the Bulgarian citizen is turned into a source of profit. There is another, quieter, less visible but no less dangerous one, and that is the trade in health. In one case, votes are bought for winning seats; in the other, the weaknesses of a flawed system are exploited to fill party coffers. And once again, the price is paid by Bulgarian citizens – not only through their health contributions, but quite literally with their health,” the caretaker Prime Minister said.

“It turns out that while doctors and nurses quite understandably expect higher funding, the system is structured in such a way that it can be drained, leaving it unable to serve Bulgarian citizens. The Health Minister, Associate Professor Okoliyiski, has reported to me cases of hospitals using loopholes in the law – not to provide better treatment, but to increase profits. For example, a hospital where a medicine costs BGN 23,000, while elsewhere it is BGN 125,000. The difference is the price of a new car. And that is from a single medicine, for a single patient. You can imagine – from all patients, that amounts to an entire fleet of cars,” Gyurov noted.

• Seven State Hospitals under Review Over Up to 16-Fold Price Dfferences in Medicines

He said the most troubling aspect is that such practices appear to be entirely legal. At the same time, Bulgaria ranks first in Europe for out-of-pocket healthcare payments.

“This is no coincidence – it is a system that allows profit to be made from the pain and health of Bulgarian citizens,” he added.

photos by BTA

“In such a case, the problem is not only economic, not only financial, and not even solely political. It is a moral issue. And this is a red line that Bulgarian society has said must no longer be crossed. That is precisely why we are here, in this building, and why there are snap elections in three days. Let it be clear – if there is indeed a way to resolve this problem with a single sentence, with an amendment to one or several regulations, then they must be drafted, they must be submitted here, and I expect this to happen as quickly as possible,” caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov stressed.