Bulgaria's Ex Deputy Health Minister Said to Have Been Framed

Bulgaria's ex Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev has defined the bribery charges against the country's former Health Minister Emil Rainov as absurd. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's former Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev believes the bribery case against ex deputy health minister and a socialist MP is a setup.

Ex Deputy Health Minister Emil Rainov and the former head of the Stanishev Cabinet, Veladin Bitolski were charged with bribery on Monday. The two are said to have blackmailed Bulgaria's biggest drug distributor Trade League, offering influence trade-offs for BGN millions. The acting head of the National Health Insurance Fund Zheni Nacheva was also charged on Monday with abuse of power.

According to Sergey Stanishev the accusations raised against ex Deputy Health Minister Emil Rainov and the former head of the Cabinet Veladin Bitolski are “absurd.”

At a regular meeting of the Socialist party on Tuesday, its leader Stanishev said that the conflict between Rainov and the leading Bulgarian drug distribution company Trade League has a long history.

He explained that in 2008 Trade League had attempted to pressure Emil Rainov, who at the time was chair of the Managing Committee of the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK), into funding hospitals in the Bulgarian cities of Yambol, Varna and Veliko Turnovo, owned by the drug company.

The BSP leader claims that those hospitals did not meet the needed requirements and had no permit for providing medical care.

“It was then that the attacks on Rainov began. He was subjected to all kinds of lies and manipulations” said Stanishev on Tuesday, adding that Rainov's decision to approve new criteria for the delivery and distribution of medicines by bringing drug prices down by about 30%, had been met with sharp criticism by the Bulgarian pharmaceutical companies, including Trade League.

“We are dealing yet again with a case of framed high officials. The investigation on the case started a long time ago and it's no accident accusations have been made now when Parliament is to vote for a new health minister,” commented Stanishev.

He suggested Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov should carefully check on Anna-Maria Borisova's record, GERB's nominee for health minister, and establish if she is in any way connected to Trade League.

The socialist leader has already asked the State National Security Agency to probe into Rainov's case but there has been no result so far.

On Tuesday Stanishev declared that his party is prepared to file a no-confidence vote of the government but sees no point in that as there's no majority to support it. According to the BSP leader the economic, financial and social policies of the GERB ruling party are wrong and inefficient.

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