Borissov threatened not to buy COVID-19 vaccines if parliament does not decide – Bulgaria

© government press service

The decision to buy COVID-19 vaccines can only be made by parliament. This was stated by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in an online meeting with ministers, in which he introduced them to the discussion with the heads of state and government of the EU member states during the informal meeting by videoconference of the European Council on COVID-19 yesterday, the press service said. of the cabinet. EU countries will receive the vaccines at the same time, said today the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Borissov stressed the purchase of vaccines to market in the EU, stressing that maximum public awareness and broad consensus are needed, so the decision on vaccines can only be made by parliament.

“If they support us, then we buy and act in a pandemic. If they don’t support us, we won’t buy,” he said. “People very quickly forget the crisis, they forgot the swine flu, the bird flu, the African plague, and after them only the bills remain. And this time the bill will be very thick. Therefore, we are awaiting the decision of the parliament, “said Borissov.

Before the European Council meeting on Thursday night, in a video on his Facebook account, the Bulgarian Prime Minister announced that he would push for an EU-level decision granting immunity from prosecution investigations into the purchase. of vaccines against the coronavirus. He said he had a “very bad experience” with former Health Minister Petar Moskov when vaccines were imported into Bulgaria from Turkey, and for their purchase Moskov was accused by the prosecution in 2015 of harming the state for BGN 325,000 “.” Still we are being taken to court. And that is why I will insist to my colleagues that we may have a decision that protects us from state prosecutors, “the prime minister said.

According to him, Bulgaria has to pay about 300 million euros for vaccines. However, there were many ambiguities when buying them. Borissov points out that there is talk of a total of 10-11 types of vaccines. Its storage required a serious resource: the state had to buy refrigerators and a large quantity of dry ice.

According to the prime minister, it may turn out that Bulgaria has paid 300 million euros for vaccines and only 300,000 are willing to get vaccinated. At the same time, the contracts were made without the possibility of resale to third parties.