Asen Medzhidiev elected deputy head of NHIF amid sharp accusations

The National Assembly elected Asen Medzhidiev as Deputy Chairman of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). He held the post of Minister of Health in the caretaker cabinet of Galab Donev, who is currently Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Rumen Radev's government. Medzhidiev will hold the position until a new leadership is elected.

His candidacy was the only one for the position, which remained vacant after the resignation of the former deputy governor Momchil Mavrov. The nomination was put forward by "We Continue the Change", and in the plenary hall, he received support from 121 MPs from the ruling majority and another 26 votes from GERB-UDF. The remaining parliamentary forces – DPS, PP, DB, and "Vazrazhdane" – voted against the candidate.

Subsequently, the parliament terminated the mandate of NHIF governor Dr. Petko Stefanovski prematurely with 193 votes "for", 3 "against", and 2 "abstained". The MPs also unanimously terminated the mandate of Momchil Mavrov with 202 votes "for". Stefanovski resigned on June 10, and later the same day, Deputy Governor Prof. Momchil Mavrov did the same.

Revelations and accusations

Serious claims were made from the parliamentary podium by the co-chairman of "Democratic Bulgaria" Ivaylo Mirchev. He stated that the former deputy governor of the health fund, Momchil Mavrov, and Asen Medzhidiev had exerted pressure on the "Medical Supervision" agency, and according to him, the services had covered up the investigations.

His statement was in connection with yesterday's decision of the parliament, with which the head of SANS was obliged to provide information on the leadership of the NHIF. "With our request for Mavrov's replacement, a person from the same circle is being appointed," stated Mirchev.

He added that there are counter-intelligence reports against individuals connected to Mavrov and Medzhidiev. "One of them is particularly interesting – in it, Mavrov and Medzhidiev exerted pressure on the head of 'Medical Supervision' to increase the number of beds in specific hospitals in order to drain funds from the NHIF," pointed out Mirchev.

According to him, the case was worked on by SANS, but the information was hushed up. "Is it possible that after pressure on this former head of 'Medical Supervision', we are talking about subsequent developments named after 'Ninja Turtles' heroes, an iconic area in Plovdiv, or creatures from ancient Greek mythology?!" he asked.

Mirchev insisted that the debate on the election of the NHIF leadership be terminated, but his proposal was not supported by the ruling majority.

Later in the plenary hall, a sharp dispute arose between DPS MP Delyan Peevski, former Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov, and Mirchev himself. Stoyanov accused the DB co-chairman of disclosing classified information.

"We have a leak of information from the services. Ivaylo Mirchev has no way of knowing what is written in reports or investigations that have not been submitted to the National Assembly's registry," stated Stoyanov. He demanded an explanation of where the data came from and emphasized that spreading it constitutes a crime.

For their part, Ivaylo Mirchev and Bozhidar Bozhanov told journalists that they "know many things". According to them, the focus should not be on the potential leak, but on the abuses in the health system.

"This is information to which many people have access. More importantly, both counter-intelligence and the prosecutor's office have been covering up the case. Who is guilty – the one who slightly lifts the lid on corruption schemes in healthcare, or the one who has been covering them up for years? We are only lifting the lid and want it to be completely removed," stated Bozhanov.

He specified that the information concerns the newly elected deputy governor of the NHIF, Dr. Asen Medzhidiev, and expressed hope that upon full disclosure of the case, he would be removed from the post.

"The new old head of SANS, Plamen Tonchev, is also involved in this. The Bulgarian public must understand who is draining the health system," stated Mirchev.