To improve public oversight, Bulgarian health authorities are considering integrating a transparency tool developed by a freelance journalist
The Bulgarian government has pledged greater transparency in medicines policy after a civic activist developed a digital platform exposing major anomalies in the way state hospitals purchase medicines and spend public healthcare funds.
The technology platform, Diagnosis Bulgaria, developed by freelance journalist Martin Atanasov, flagged “anomalies” involving more than €300 million in expenditure for 2025, involving payments and public procurement contracts.
Examples include healthcare facilities spending several hundred per cent more than comparable hospitals on categories such as medical supplies, maintenance and outsourced services. The platform also reveals significant differences in the prices paid by different hospitals for the same medicines, with some price gaps reaching tenfold or more.
It also highlights differences in hospitals’ financial condition, liabilities, expenditure structures and remuneration levels.
