Bulgaria’s Health Minister Nikolay Petrov resigned on October 30 after media allegations that he abused his office while heading the country’s military hospital.

This is the first resignation of a member of the current government and it was accepted by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on the same day, according to a government statement. The move might help the government to partially restore its reputation, which has suffered from recent scandals involving two MPs from Borissov’s ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and the Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov of the United Patriots.

Petrov is from the quota of the centre-right GERB, the senior partner in the ruling coalition. 

He was revealed by TV channel bTV to have signed two contracts worth BGN1.2mn (€613,000) with a company owned by Yavor Tsonev, who fathered a child with Petrov’s daughter.

According to Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, Petrov tendered his resignation at a private meeting with Borissov shortly after the government’s regular meeting, daily Dnevnik reported.

“I shall not allow my name to be tarnished,” Goranov quoted Petrov as telling him in a private conversation.

According to GERB’s deputy-leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Petrov has not breached the law, but there might be room for discussing the moral side of the two contracts. 

Meanwhile, Simeonov claimed Petrov was the victim of an “active media attack”. This is not the first time Simeonov has accused the media of attacking a member of the government or ruling coalition. He claims he is also a victim of such actions after several opposition parties are called for his resignation after he verbally threatened popular talk show host Viktor Nikolaev in a live studio discussion. 

Another politician embroiled in the same scandal, GERB MP Anton Todorov, resigned on October 11 amid the popular backlash after he also threatened Nikolaev on the same show for asking “too many questions”.

Before that, a scandal involving GERB MP Delyan Dobrev, whose relatives have been appointed to key positions in the town of Haskovo, led to his resignation, but this was not accepted by the parliament.