BULGARIA: STEP FORWARD ON JEWISH HOSPITAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 001682 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/OHI FOR JOHN BECKER E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV KNAR OVIP BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA: STEP FORWARD ON JEWISH HOSPITAL RESTITUTION REF: SOFIA 1494 Classified By: CDA Alex Karagiannis for reason 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a December 14 meeting with the Ambassador, Minister of Health Radoslav Gaidarski confirmed that the Ministry is prepared to return the already-restituted hospital to the Jewish organization Shalom, but it must wait until the hospital's new facilities are renovated. To emphasize its willingness to resolve the issue, the MOH is ready to honor Shalom's request for six rooms in the hospital immediately (reftel). Shalom reps say the rooms need serious renovation, but welcome MOH's new cooperative spirit. Asked about the court case the hospital recently filed challenging Shalom's claim to the property (admittedly to forestall eviction),Gaidarski said the government is clear that the building should be returned to the Jewish community and promised to request that the hospital management withdraws the case. MOH's willingness to cooperate is a welcome result of high-level attention to the case, but the MOH still owes Shalom a definite deadline for moving out. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Ambassador Beyrle met Minister of Health Gaidarski to discuss, among other things, the pending restitution of the Sofia Endocrynology Hospital to the Jewish organization Shalom. Shalom's claim to the hospital was most recently confirmed by the government-appointed Restitution Commission, but the cash-strapped MOH has been lagging on vacating the premises and was reticent to give Shalom six hospital rooms it requested as an interim measure (reftel). Gaidarski stated that the issue of restitution "has already been solved politically" (implying the Commission's report),and that the MOH had agreed in principle to vacate the hospital. However, he underlined that the MOH must wait until renovation of the new facility is complete. These renovations in turn have been held up because the losing bidder on the contract is appealing the grant. ¶3. (C) Gaidarski emphasized that MOH is willing to resolve the issue and is ready to honor Shalom's request for the six rooms immediately. The hospital management has identified rooms that can be accessed separately in order to avoid conflict with hospital operations. Gaidarski admitted that the rooms are "not the best" and will need renovation before they can be used, but stressed that Shalom is welcome to access them immediately. ¶4. (C) Separately, Shalom's Executive Director, Sarah Cohen, confirmed that Gaidarski surprised them last week with a personal invitation to the hospital to see the premises offered. She said the building -- a former lab adjacent to the main hospital -- was in poor shape and probably unsafe to occupy, but out of courtesy Shalom agreed to communicate the proposal to the community. In a separate meeting, Shalom President Emil Kalo welcomed MOH's sudden willingness to cooperate but stressed that MOH needs to give a clear deadline of when it expects to move out of the hospital. In exchange, Shalom is willing to sign a document committing to abstain from any procedure to evict the hospital unit until the new building is ready. ¶5. (C) A potential roadblock is a court case the hospital management filed against Shalom in 2005, claiming that Shalom is not technically the successor organization to the hospital's previous owners. According to Shalom, the hospital director openly admitted the case was filed purely as a means to protect against eviction. When asked about it by the Ambassador, Gaidarski said that the case "doesn't matter at all." The government is clear that the building should be returned to the Jewish community, he said, and for all intents and purposes that meant Shalom. While the case can only be withdrawn by the hospital management, he promised to request that the hospital director does so and reaffirmed that the Ministry was prepared to leave as soon as the new premises for the hospital were available. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: The hospital case has gotten a lot of high-level attention recently, especially in the run up to the Foreign Minister Kalfin's December 19 meeting with Secretary Rice. We've continuously raised the issue with our SIPDIS high-level contacts, and the GOB expects it to come up in Washington. The offer of the six rooms is a step forward and a sign that the MOH is willing to cooperate, but this case is not over yet. The MOH still owes Shalom a definite deadline of when it expects the hospital to move, something that could be stretched by the appeal of the renovation contract. We will continue to push the Bulgarians to make sure they don,t lose momentum. END COMMENT. KARAGIANNIS