The Parliamentary Committee on Health approved at the first reading, with 14 votes in favor and zero against or abstentions, amendments to the Public Procurement Act, submitted by Georgi Iliev of "Progressive Bulgaria" and a group of members of parliament. The initiative received support from the NHIF, the Public Procurement Agency, and Aleksandar Simidchiev of "Democratic Bulgaria".

The goal of the reform is to ensure equality and transparency in the spending of state funds. The previous practice, under which rules applied only to state and municipal hospitals, created an imbalance based on the form of ownership. This led to an infringement procedure against our country. Minister of Health Katya Ivkova emphasized that the ministry supports the bill because it removes discriminatory exemptions and introduces uniform standards for all healthcare facilities that work with public resources.

The changes also include amendments to the Law on Medicinal Products in Human Medicine. Ivkova indicated that she supports the introduction of a unified procedure through centralized procurement for medications with no alternatives. When the central authority does not conduct procurement, hospitals will assume this responsibility independently, and other conditions will apply only in urgent situations.

The Chairman of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, Dimitar Marinov, also supported the measures for increased control and a competitive selection process. He noted that the current framework allows for large price discrepancies in the purchase of identical products funded by citizens' health insurance. Marinov emphasized that the changes are urgently needed due to the final phase of the infringement procedure, which poses a risk of Bulgaria being convicted.

The changes will ensure more transparent and efficient management of public funds in hospitals used by all residents of Burgas and the region.

The Public Procurement Agency supported the concept and recommended that the legal definition of private healthcare facilities as contracting authorities be clarified in a separate article of the Public Procurement Act. With the removal of the ownership criterion, all contract executors will be required to comply with European procedures for the supply of equipment and medicines, which guarantees higher accountability in the expenditure of public funds.