Bulgaria's President, Rosen Plevneliev, is convinced that discredited ex Bulgarian National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK) Director, Neli Nesheva, should have received more bonuses than what she got.

"There must be bonuses for State servants. If someone like Nesheva manages an annual budget of BGN 4 B and bears huge responsibility for any mistake not only should they receive a BGN 12 000 in bonuses, they must get them," the President said Friday, further stressing that senior management must not only be awarded with money, but be supported.

He however, voiced disapproval of people who awarded themselves with cash, and pointed out that such incidents violate the rules and must be sanctioned.

"It is totally unacceptable to have different rules in the system and people to bend them in many different ways. For a job well done, according to the rules, I am "for" bonuses, but they must have some limits. The bonus is a supplement to the salary and should not be used to increase wages two or three times," according to the President.

On Friday, Plevneliev is also scheduled to meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, to discuss the administrative reform.

"We cannot have a working economy without a working administration, and to have a working administration, we must have an administrative reform and strict rules," explained the President.

He reiterated that State servants must work with a sense of security, with rules and be motivated, including with cash bonuses.

The "Nesheva" scandal flared after Members of the Parliament from the right-wing Blue Coalition released for the media documents showing that all while NZOK is in shambles, its employees have received in 2011 over BGN 2 M in bonuses, of which BGN 30 000 went to its Head.

Nesheva, who admitted to receiving over BGN 12 000 of bonuses last year and - though claiming the money was well deserved - quit office one week ago under public, opposition, and Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov's pressure.

The Bulgarian Doctors Union, the Bulgarian Industrial Chamber, the Union of Multi-profile Hospitals, the National Association of Private Hospitals, the National Alliance of People with Rare Diseases, and the Parliamentary Committee on Health declared their backing for her, and insisted that changes in NZOK leadership will unnecessarily shake the system.

They praised the NZOK Director for reinstating regular payments in the system, for the new medication policy which includes the possibility to negotiate discounts and the new methodology of payments to hospitals, which have increased transparency and reduced the lobbyist pressure.

Her supporters say the scandal was stirred on purpose by the pharmaceutical cartels in Bulgaria.

On Wednesday, the Members of the Bulgarian Parliament accepted Nesheva's resignation, on the grounds that even though she showed professionalism, her dismissal was a must over the wide-spread public opinion.

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