Bulgarian PM accepts resignation of Health Minister after allegations in TV report

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov accepted the resignation of Health Minister Nikolai Petrov on October 30, the government media service said.

The statement came a day after Bulgarian television station bTV said that while head of the Military Medical Academy, Petrov signed contracts worth about 1.2 million leva (about 600 000 euro) with a firm owned by a man with whom Petrov’s daughter had a child.

It was also alleged that these were the only two public procurements won by the company, which was not registered with a Bulstat number.

The report said that the matter was mentioned in an audit report but prosecutors had declined to initiate criminal proceedings.

The resignation of Petrov came as the Cabinet held a meeting on October 30, a Monday, although customarily Bulgaria’s government meets on Wednesdays. A major agenda item was approval of the proposed Budget 2018.

Petrov met Borissov before the start of the Cabinet meeting, bTV said.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, who spoke briefly to Petrov, said that Petrov had told him that he had built his reputation over 60 years and did not want it tarnished. Goranov said that the resignation was a “moral act”.

By noon on October 30, there was no formal comment from Petrov on his resignation.

(Screenshot: BNT)

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