Transport Minister: Bulgaria halts liquidation of air ambulance company

"Bulgaria halts the liquidation of Bulgaria Heli Med Services, the air ambulance company. The project is fully financed under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan, which clearly and explicitly sets out parametres related to European regulations that must be strictly complied with. The second reason is that we should not, by circumventing Bulgarian laws and rules, once again look for a way to make this activity secondary," said Georgi Gvozdeykov, Minister of Transport and Communications.

In his words, it is important that the responsibility and functions are delegated to someone specifically and that he bears the entire responsibility for the emergency medical assistance missions.

He clarified that with the resumption of the operation of Bulgaria Heli Med Services, the rights for the functioning of the air ambulance are fully delegated, which facilitates the financing and maintenance model of the system in Bulgaria.

"The process is at a fairly advanced stage, the operating bases have been identified, which are not hospital sites but places where the helicopters are based and will operate. Strict organizational measures have been put in place for the preparation of documents for the announcement of the public procurement from the Ministry of Health, which is for the construction of the 6 operational bases," Minister Gvozdeykov added.

He explained that a working group has been formed to hold talks with all hospitals in the country.

Today, ministers discussed emergency air care. A few days ago, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov assured that Bulgaria will receive the first helicopter in early 2024.

The Council of Ministers has already designated six operational bases for emergency air assistance. Accordingly, in the airports in Sofia, Plovdiv, Targovishte, Sliven, Dolna Mitropolia and Gabrovnica.

So far, Bulgaria has trained about 90 doctors and medical specialists.