Health Minister Radoslav Gaidarski said that hospitals should get ready for the sale of unused property and terrains.

Gaidarski sent a letter to the directors of hospitals, in which he described the privatisation of unused hospital property, Dnevnik newspaper reported.

The funds obtained through the sale would be used to cover part of the debt accumulated by state-owned hospitals. In most cases the debts were accumulated through the purchase of equipment and medicines.

Dnevnik reported that the strategy fails answering the question what would be done to deal with debts accumulated in the coming years, when hospitals no longer have property for sale.

At present hospitals can offer for rent or give on concession some of their property. Sale would occur only through the permission of the Health Ministry, Gaidarski said.

A month ago Gaidarski offered property sale as possible solution to the debt problem. Hospitals that had free administrative buildings needed to sell those, Gagauzov said.