Dimitar Nikolov, Mayor of Burgas: Local healthcare remains problematic

- Mr. Nikolov, the last general meeting of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) concluded that the process of financial decentralisation has stopped and there is even a recent opposite tendency towards centralisation. Do you think the situation is so desperate?
- The problem refers not so much to local budgets and their functions related to the Republican budget as to the various segments of local policies. For example, healthcare policy is problematic and, in particular, the financing on the part of the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) of both municipal and private hospitals. Especially in smaller towns and villages the reduced budgets for medical institutions have a very negative impact. In such cases, in order for the local hospital to operate properly, the municipality resorts to co-financing through its budget funds.

- In addition to tackling the healthcare problem, what will municipalities focus on in their operation in 2011?
- The main focus remains the funds' utilisation under EU projects and programmes because they are the only secure financial source.

- Due to their financial liabilities, currently, the accounts of approximately 40 municipalities have been blocked. Will this fact impede the operation of local authorities, given that this measure may be applied to every municipality?
- Yes, this is a serious drawback. I think, it will be favourable for amendments to be considered to the Municipal Debt Act. Therefore, Parliament must take the initiative in this respect. At present, municipalities with blocked accounts are quite understandably experiencing hardship. However, it is even worse that this affects the transfer of advance payments under the operational programmes. Therefore, our colleagues are right that the large-scale blocking of municipal accounts creates serious problems with respect to the utilisation of funds under EU programmes.

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