The caretaker government has disbanded the National Vaccination Unit, created in December to implement the National Vaccination Plan. The Unit is headed by prof. Krasimir Gigov, general director of the Bulgarian Red Cross and a lecturer in Varna's Medical University. The unit has been disbanded because the health minister will have a wider circle of experts to consult on health and societal issues. So far, 798,000 people have had two vaccinations.
Bulgaria finalizes national plan for euro adoption
Today, the Coordination Council for the preparation for eurozone membership adopted a draft National Plan for the Introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria. Preparations for Bulgaria's accession to the euro area are scheduled for January 1, 2024. The introduction of the euro is planned without a transitional period. The draft will be up for public debate before its submission for consideration by the Council of Ministers.
Court blocks second attempt to remove BDB leadership
The second attempt to register the new members of the Supervisory and Management Boards of the Bulgarian Development Bank (already approved by the BNB) was stonewalled once again in court. Thus, the Ministry of Economy, which owns 100% of the bank, will have to continue its near two-month long campaign to gain information on the large loans the BDB has handed out over the years.
Caretaker government sheds light on in-house procurement scheme
Caretaker ministers Violeta Komitova (regional development), Kiril Petkov (economy), and Asen Vasilev (finance) used a joint press conference to talk about the in-house procurement scheme draining Bulgaria's budget from every ministry. They claim that ministries assign projects to various companies they're in charge of. Theoretically, these companies can't use subcontractors. Yet they go ahead and hire subcontractors anyway and pay them large sums of taxpayers' money in advance. Thus, they avoid a public tender and, supposedly, keep everything in-house, but actually - directly choose which firms to work with.
The caretaker government has disbanded the National Vaccination Unit, created in December to implement the National Vaccination Plan. The Unit is headed by prof. Krasimir Gigov, general director of the Bulgarian Red Cross and a lecturer in Varna's Medical University. The unit has been disbanded because the health minister will have a wider circle of experts to consult on health and societal issues. So far, 798,000 people have had two vaccinations.
