Bulgaria moves to restore procurement rules for private hospitals amid EU court case
Bulgaria's ruling Progressive Bulgaria party has introduced legislation requiring all hospitals receiving public health insurance funding to follow public procurement procedures, eliminating the current exemption for private hospitals. The reform, supported by Health Minister Katya Ivkova, aims to end a dual system where private hospitals negotiate directly with suppliers, leading to price disparities of up to twentyfold for identical medicines. The European Commission referred Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the European Union in December 2025 for incorrectly transposing EU procurement law. The bill also introduces centralized electronic tenders for unlicensed medicines, with the Health Ministry as the central purchasing authority. Private hospitals have been exempt from procurement rules since 2016, a change introduced by the then-ruling GERB party. The issue has sparked corruption allegations, with the National Health Insurance Fund paying vastly different prices for the same drugs depending on the hospital.
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