site.btaPM Glavchev: Public Procurement Appeal Procedures Delay Firefighting Equipment Delivery

Public procurement appeal procedures delay the delivery of firefighting equipment, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said during a Q&A session on Facebook, where he answered topical questions from media and citizens. "There is no doubt that the necessary equipment must be available. The firefighters handled the fire with the available equipment in a way that is close to heroic. The Public Procurement Act is in force in Bulgaria and it must be respected.

Currently, there is a BGN 170 million procedure under way to equip the fire service. Once the contractor is chosen, appeal procedures start and delay the delivery of fire equipment. At the last meeting of the Security Council with the Council of Ministers, along with the MPs, the party floor leaders and National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan, there were also presidential representatives. We all wondered [at the meeting] how we can make sure that the funding that will now be allocated, be spent for equipment to reach the firefighters as quickly as possible," Glavchev said.

"A very good idea that came from the President's representative was to supply helibuckets for the Cougar helicopters of the Defence Ministry. That is the quickest thing that can be done. BGN 500,000 is needed for four helibuckets. We are all of the opinion that this what we can do fastest," the Prime Minister added. 

Asked by citizens on Facebook why the Ukrainian refugees were accommodated in hotels but the victims of wildfires in mobile homes, Glavchev said that he would not make such a parallel. “You know that Ukrainian refugees are refugees of war. But the victims here are injured by a natural disaster. Both are tragic circumstances in people's lives, only that Ukrainian refugees have been here for two years. It was decided then. They have been placed in different accommodation establishments. I don't know if they're all in a hotel, or in refugee camps, because I remember that there were some who moved to refugee camps in that two-year period. Various institutions have provided their holiday facilities for Ukrainian refugees, and so have some hotel owners. Anyway, we have agreed to help Ukrainian refugees: not only here in Bulgaria, but all EU countries. This has all happened by law and by parliamentary resolution as well", the Prime Minister explained. 

Glavchev said that he was on the spot, in the village of Voden and Krainovo, and saw that people who are given mobile homes for temporary accommodation want to stay close to their burnt houses.

The Minister assured that if there are people who do not want to be accommodated in mobile homes, they will have the option to stay at facilities of the Ministries of Interior and of Defence.