VZCZCXRO8927
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSF #1682 3531334
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 191334Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2975
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

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