The entire documentation about abandoned babies at the Sofia "Sheinovo" maternity hospital for the 2003-2008 period is missing.

The stark revelation was made Thursday after the regularly scheduled meeting of the Sofia City Council.

Until June of 2008, the hospital was managed by the Executive Director and member of the Sofia branch of the rightist Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) party, Doctor Dimitar Dragiev. In the summer, the City Hall majority from the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party voted to replace Dragiev with another doctor, who at the time was employed as obstetrician at the hospital.

After the change of leadership, the City Hall has conducted a checkup at the hospital, which reveled that from January 1, 2003 until August 8, 2008 not a single "at risk" baby (the administrative term for "abandoned) has been registered at "Sheinovo".

The people responsible for the maintenance of the maternity hospital archives, are listed by the Bulgarian news agency BGNES, as the "Sheinovo" attorney, Yova Petrova and the " quality auditor", Valentina Dichkova.

The new leadership immediately requested from the attorney to submit the missing documentation, which she promised to do in two days, but failed. On November 25 2008, a notarized summons was sent to Petrova, asking her to provide the documents. As of now, the documentation is still missing.

Dichkova, on her part, submitted information, about one child, who has been referred to the Social Assistance Agency.

In the mean time, employees at the maternity hospital have told a Sofia City Councilman from GERB that anywhere between 10 to 20 women abandon their babies in the course of one year and since the beginning of 2009, there have already been five such babies at "Sheinovo."

When asked for information, the Social Assistance Agency had bounced the ball back to the hospital's attorney.

A request for a search warrant for missing birth certificates has been submitted to the Prosecutor's Office.

Councilman Danail Kirilov (GERB), who has been appointed by Sofia's Mayor and informal GERB leader, Boyko Borisov, to investigate the case is quoted as saying:

"When initial information is missing, the traces gradually disappear. From an administrative viewpoint, those babies don't exist."

BGNES further informs that the "Sheinovo" attorney, Yova Petrova, has adopted a child from the hospital, but it was not clear if the adoption had been legal.

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