The “Golden Key” award went to

Valya Ahchieva, investigative journalist, for the unsettling investigation (“About Danaya, the lie and the hospital“; “Tangled in the lies about Danaya“), which, with the help of an information request under the APIA, revealed the flaws of the Bulgarian health system through the lens of the tragic story of the 15-year-old Danaya who lost her life in the Pirogov Hospital in May 2023. The investigation resulted in amendments in the relevant legal framework and in the flawed procedure of the National Health Insurance Fund. With the help of the APIA, Valya Ahchieva uncovered the truth about corrupt practices in the Bulgarian healthcare system that lead to loss of innocent human lives.

The honorary diploma went to

BIRD (Bureau of Investigative Reporting and Data)for actively using the APIA in its investigations. The media outlet has submitted information requests to various institutions, among which the Ministry of Finance, the National Revenue Agency, the State Reserve and Wartime Stocks Agency, etc. One of the more significant cases involving use of the APIA concerned access to the documents from the arbitration case between the Omani Fund and the Bulgarian state, represented by the Ministry of Finance.

==============================================  
 
Right-to-Know Day 2024 Campaign and Ceremony is run within the project Access to Information and Transparency Advice Center supported by a grant from America for Bulgaria Fondation. The statements and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the Access to Information Programme and do not necessarily reflect the views of teh America for Bulgaria Foundation or its affiliates.