Bulgaria Advances $98M HEMS Project
Bulgaria is advancing a project worth around €86.3 million (U.S. $98 million) to boost the country’s helicopter EMS (HEMS) capabilities by procuring eight Airbus H145 medical helicopters and constructing six permanent bases to host the aircraft. However, delays in the delivery of the new bases will likely force the country’s government to cover a larger share of the investment than initially expected.
Funds for the investment in the Bulgarian EMS and its airborne capabilities have been provided by the European Union, which comprises 27 countries across the continent. However, due to the delays in the project’s implementation, the country’s government is considering financing the bases’ construction from the state budget that would protect around 73% of the funds that Brussels, Belgium, the primary seat of the EU, has supplied for the helicopters’ purchase.
Of the €86.3 million, some €80 million is to be spent on the purchase of the Airbus helicopters, with the remainder of €6.3 million allocated to the construction of the six bases. Meanwhile, the country’s authorities are seeking ways to prevent the EU funds from being withdrawn from Bulgaria amid delays that put the project at risk of noncompliance with the EU rules.
At a March 2026 press conference held by Bulgarian government officials, then Health Minister Mihail Okoliyski stated that the country could lose the funds it had secured from Brussels. This is because, while five of the eight H145s had been delivered to Bulgaria and were operating from temporary bases, the construction of permanent bases had not begun.
“An analysis of the situation shows that some of them have not been issued construction permits, and in one of the places the issue of ownership of the terrain has not even been clarified. This makes it impossible to implement them within the terms of the [EU-backed] Recovery and Sustainability Plan and puts the entire investment at risk,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
To mitigate the risk of EU funds being withdrawn, the Bulgarian government has decided to split the project into two parts, and to fund the construction of permanent bases from the state budget. Covering this cost from Bulgaria’s own funds would allow the country to keep the €80 million from the EU and pay only the €6.3 million for the construction work.
“We will prepare a proposal to the European Commission for the bases to be removed from the Recovery and Sustainability Plan and implemented with state funding. In parallel, we will make a new plan-schedule with clear terms for their construction,” Okoliyski said.
In 2023, Bulgaria joined the ranks of countries with HEMS capabilities as Bulgaria Heli Med Service, the state-owned company set up to operate the country’s airborne EMS, leased its first helicopter. The new service was established to provide the nation’s EMS staff with access to hard-to-reach areas, such as Bulgaria’s southwestern mountainous region. Bulgaria’s EMS is a state structure and entirely financed by the state budget.
The following year, the Bulgarian EMS received the first of eight AW109 Trekker emergency medical helicopters ordered from Italian manufacturer Leonardo. Deliveries of the final aircraft are scheduled to be completed in 2026, according to the government. Similarly to the Airbus H145 helo purchase, the acquisition of the AW109s was made possible by the funds sourced from the EU.
Prior to the delivery of the first of the ordered Italian helicopters, Bulgaria was the only European Union member state that didn’t offer helicopter EMS to its inhabitants.
The H145 is a four-ton-class twin-engine helicopter designed to ensure a high mission versatility ranging from emergency medical services to law enforcement, offshore transport, and passenger aviation, according to data from Airbus Helicopters. The copter’s manufacturer says that, with more than 2,150 aircraft delivered to operators across the world and over 8.5 million flight hours accumulated, the H145 owes its popularity to its combination of agility with versatility for demanding civil missions.
Airbus Helicopters says that the H145 offers multiple EMS cabin interior options, which were designed in partnership with leading EMS providers based on customer feedback.
Additionally, the new Helionix avionics suite allows efficient HEMS operation under challenging conditions. The suite ensures greater operational safety and mission flexibility in an intuitive, pilot-friendly cockpit environment to its users. With its low external sound level, the H145 allows operations around hospitals and in urban areas.
The system “offers an innovative cockpit layout with two-to-four multi-function screens designed to improve pilots’ situational awareness. In particular, the system displays only the most pertinent details of a flight phase,” said Christian Gottschalk, the head of the Helionix program at Airbus Helicopters.
