site.btaPresident Highlights Benefits of Recovery and Resilience Plan Funding

President Iliana Iotova welcomed the Government's success in securing the remaining funding under Bulgaria's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Speaking during a visit to the Dr Atanas Dafovski Hospital here on Tuesday, she said the funding would help deliver projects with tangible benefits for citizens.

Speaking to medical staff, Iotova said the government had succeeded within less than two months in securing the remaining hundreds of millions of euros under the plan. Earlier on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov said Bulgaria is expected to receive another EUR 109 million under the NRRP this week.

Iotova visited the hospital's interventional diagnostics and endovascular treatment centre for cerebrovascular diseases, which is being developed under the NRRP.  She said the investment showed how EU funding translates into practical benefits for hospitals, municipalities, education and, ultimately, citizens, after delays in the plan's implementation.

The President also praised the hospital's organization and highlighted plans to link the new centre to a similar facility in Plovdiv as part of a nationwide network to provide treatment within the "golden hour" after a stroke or other medical emergency.

Thanking the hospital's doctors, nurses and staff for their dedication, Iotova described medicine as a mission and said that neither technology nor artificial intelligence could replace the hope healthcare professionals give their patients.

During the visit, hospital Director Professor Todor Cherkezov presented Iotova with a commemorative plaque. He said it was the first visit by a Bulgarian head of state to the hospital in 23 years and outlined two ongoing investment projects: the new cerebrovascular treatment centre under the NRRP and the installation of a mammography unit financed by the Health Ministry under the National Cancer Control Plan.