The idea of Health Minster Radoslav Gaidarski to make all hotels have medical centres set up angered hotel owners.

Novinar daily reported that the National Hospitality Management Club (NHMC) believed the minister was trying to transfer to businesses one of the state’s duties.

NHMC said that Gaidarski was trying to make hotel owners responsible for the setting up, provision of equipment and maintenance of medical centres.

Hotel owners pay taxes and the state has to provide its tax-payers with medical aid, fire safety and infrastructure, NHMC said. Introducing new medical regulations could make hotel owners responsible for other state duties in the near future, the organisation said.

The draft regulation was yet another sign of the state’s weakness, NHMC said. It was unacceptable for Gaidarski to draft such regulation without discussing it with representatives of Bulgaria’s hospitality sector.

On March 28 representatives of the hospitality sector will meet Gaidarski to discuss the document.