Owner of Private Hospital Implicated in Bulgaria Health Affair

Bulgaria's former head of NZOK, Zheni Nacheva is said to have illegally alloted BGN 800 to a privately owned hospital in the Bulgarian city of Sliven. Photo by dnevnik.bg

The owner of a private hospital in the eastern Bulgarian city of Sliven is being investigated on charges of document forgery that could have led to the ousting of Bulgaria's Healthcare head.

Doctor Penko Penkov is accused of forging the contract between the “Hadji Dimitar” hospital he runs and the cardiology hospital in Yambol when applying for funds to the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK), announced Monday for Darik radio the spokesperson of the Sliven Prosecutor's Office Violeta Kalaydzhieva.

This could have prompted the former head of NZOK, Zheni Nacheva, to assign additional budget funds to the Sliven hospital.

Nacheva was recently removed from office over alleged abuse of power.

One of the charges raised against the former head of NZOK, was for unlawfully increasing the budget of the privately-run Sliven hospital.

As acting head of the Budget and Finance Department of NZOK, Nacheva is said to have illegally alloted an additional BGN 800 000 to the “Hadji Dimitar” hospital in Sliven.

If the owner of the hospital, Dr. Penkov, is found guilty of document forgery when applying for NZOK funds he may be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison or banned from taking up an executive post.

The Bulgarian parliament terminated last Thursday the mandate of the head of the National Insurance Fund Zheni Nacheva over alleged abuse of power.

A day before that Nacheva submitted her resignation to parliament after she had been urged to do so by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Nacheva has been accused of unlawfully increasing the budgets of three medical establishments throughout the country.

She is said to have alloted an additional BGN 800 000 to the hospital in the Bulgarian city of Sliven and about BGN 840 000 to two hospitals in Sofia – Tokuda hospital and the Military Medical Academy (VMA).

Apart from Nacheva, two other former high-ranking officials also face charges over corruption in the health sector – ex Deputy Health Minister Emil Rainov and the former head of the Stanishev Cabinet, Veladin Bitolksi are currently investigated on bribery charges.

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