Bulgarian Parliament Elects Asen Medzhidiev as Deputy Governor of NHIF.

The National Assembly elected Dr. The former caretaker health minister received 147 votes in favor, 58 against and no abstentions. MPs from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Democratic Bulgaria, We Continue the Change and Vazrazhdane voted against.

Parliament also terminated early the mandates of the previous governor, Dr. Petko Stefanovski, and the deputy governor. Medzhidiev’s candidacy, nominated by Progressive Bulgaria, was the only one for the post. He was elected with 147 votes in favor against 58 opposed, with no abstentions.

During the debate, Democratic Bulgaria raised the question of whether some of the files had been named in a way linked to corrupt practices, including after characters from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Democratic Bulgaria also called for the resignation of NHIF deputy governor Momchil Mavrov, whom they described as one of the symbols of corrupt practices in Bulgarian healthcare.

Progressive Bulgaria rejected the opposition’s accusations. We refuse to allow you to extrapolate what happened before onto what lies ahead and to throw mud at a person whose professional qualities no one doubts, said Petar Vitanov of Progressive Bulgaria.

In response, the deputy chair of the parliamentary health committee, Georgi Iliev, said that the professional relationship between Medzhidiev and Mavrov was a known fact, but, in his words, there were no court or prosecutorial acts proving violations.

Medzhidiev will take over the actual management of the health fund until a new governor is elected, with expectations that he will receive the top post at the NHIF. If the model is not reformed, then it does not matter who resigns and who is appointed; the taps will remain, said Dr. Alexander Simidchiev of We Continue the Change. Medzhidiev is expected to contribute to the administrative strengthening of the NHIF at a time when the healthcare sector is facing significant challenges.

Yordan Ivanov of Democratic Bulgaria requested that the debates be broadcast live on Bulgarian National Television, with a quorum check to be carried out beforehand, and urged the opposition not to register. The proposal for Bulgarian National Television to broadcast the discussion on the election of the NHIF deputy governor live was then adopted.