Proton Accelerator in Burgas: Municipal Council Receives Opinion from Dr. Dzhenov's Team

An extensive position paper from the team of Dr. Veselin Dzhenov has been sent to the Chairman of the Municipal Council – Burgas, related to the project for the construction of a proton accelerator for cancer treatment in the city. This is stated in information published on the website of the Municipal Council in Burgas. The letter emphasizes that the available documentation and analyses, prepared in recent years, form a "highly specialized and original work", which has already been presented numerous times to the municipal administration.

The team states that Burgas has a suitable site, confirmed by the mayor of Burgas Dimitar Nikolov – in the area of the newly built children's hospital in the "Zornitsa" residential complex. The possibility of placing the proton accelerator in the bunker of the Complex Oncology Center in Burgas, which meets all regulatory requirements, is also offered. The document states that the construction of the center is nationally necessary, as Bulgaria annually sends patients abroad for proton therapy. According to information provided by the National Health Insurance Fund, the costs for this type of treatment vary significantly, with the average European value being around 55,000 euros per patient.

The project team proposes the creation of a municipal commission "Proton Accelerator – Burgas", the establishment of a commercial company for the management of the future center, and the formation of a public council of experts. Dr. Dzhenov emphasizes that the technology would be unique for Bulgaria. 

The authors of the project also emphasize the significant international potential of the future center. According to them, Burgas can become a regional hub for high-tech cancer treatment, accepting patients not only from Bulgaria, but also from neighboring countries – Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. The letter states that a stable tariff policy would make the center competitive in the region, and this would bring both an economic effect for the municipality, as well as higher specialization and workload, necessary for the profitable operation of such infrastructure.

We recall that in January 2024, the Municipal Council in Burgas unanimously supported a proposal by Dr. Dzhenov and his team to create a National Center for Proton Therapy in the city, which would be the first in Bulgaria. The project envisages the construction of high-tech infrastructure for the treatment of oncological diseases through a proton accelerator – a method that allows significantly more precise and gentle irradiation, especially in children and patients with complex tumors. At this stage, it has not yet been specified how the funding for the construction of the proton center in Burgas will be secured. In a similar project initiative for Sofia years ago, more than 180 million leva were allocated.