site.btaWork of Unlicensed Nursing Homes to Be Criminalized, Justice Minister Says

The work of unlicensed nursing homes for elderly people and other types of such facilities will be criminalized, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev told a news briefing here on Wednesday. Over 300 people have thus far been taken out of such illegal homes, dozens of nursing homes have been de-licensed by the healthcare authorities, he noted.

The move comes after the many cases of unlicensed nursing homes being uncovered across Bulgaria in the past several months as part of a large-scale investigation into illegal facilities, carried out by the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. Ministers and news media have reported awful conditions and cruel and degrading treatment of residents in such establishments, which have become popularly known as “horror homes”.

Georgiev told Wednesday's news briefing that the criminalization of unlicensed nursing homes is the Executive's response as part of the fight launched against the property mafia. The checks of various illegal sites, including in the village of Yagoda (Stara Zagora Region) and Varna (on the Black Sea) last month, were part of this fight, he specified. "In the last several months, together with the experts at the Justice Ministry, the Labour and Social Policy Ministry, the Health Ministry, and the Interior Ministry we prepared a legislative response to what we uncovered that could be called 'the Yagoda village amendment', namely criminalization of this type of activity," the Justice Minister said. 

Imprisonment is envisaged for those carrying out an activity that requires a license without having one, given that an administrative violation has once been established, Georgiev explained. Proposals for changes to the Penal Code and changes to social legislation have been on the Justice Ministry's website for several days now, so as to tighten the regime for issuing a licence in the first place. "If anyone thinks that they will continue to hide under the pretext of providing rooms for rent and get away with just a fine of up to BGN 7,000, they are deeply mistaken," the Minister underscored.

He said that the second major change put forward by the Justice Ministry and the second major change in criminal law is to criminalize the activities of these homes where standards are not maintained, endangering the lives and health of the people there.

Thirdly, bigger penalties are envisaged for persons who perform the role of paramedics, nurses and support staff, as they are legally obliged to take care of persons who cannot take care of themselves due to old age, illness, infirmity, Georgiev said. "Discussions are just beginning regarding the changes, we have edits to be made on our side so that we can propose quality legislation to the National Assembly," Georgiev noted.

During the news briefing with Minister Georgiev, Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov said that 25 elderly are taken out of a nursing home in Burgas (on the Black Sea), found to be operating without a license during a check by the Social Services Quality Agency on Tuesday.