ALTA PHARMACEUTICALS OOD 
INFORMATION ON THE CONDITIONS AND PROCEDURE FOR FILING A REPORT UNDER THE ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSONS FILING A REPORT OR PUBLICLY DISCLOSING INFORMATION ABOUT VIOLATIONS 

Who can file reports (Art. 5 of the APPFRPDIV): 

A whistleblower is a natural person who files a report or publicly discloses information about a violation that has become known to him/her in his/her capacity as: 

1. a worker, employee, civil servant or other person who performs paid work, regardless of the nature of the work, the method of payment and the source of financing;
2. a person who works without an employment relationship and/or exercises a freelance profession and/or a craft activity;
3. volunteer or intern;
4. partner, shareholder, sole owner of the capital, member of a management or control body of a commercial company, member of the audit committee of an enterprise;
5. a person who works for a natural or legal person, its subcontractors or suppliers;
6. a job applicant who participated in a competition or other form of selection for employment and received in this capacity information about a violation;
7. an employee or worker, when the information was received within the framework of an employment or service relationship that was terminated at the time of filing the report or public disclosure;
8. any other reporting person who reports a violation that has become known to him/her in a work context.

 

Protection under the APPFRPDIV is also provided to: 

(a) persons who assist the reporting person in the reporting process; 

(b) persons who are associated with the reporting person and who may be subject to retaliatory action due to the reporting; 

(c) legal entities in which the reporting person holds a shareholding, works for or is otherwise connected in a work context; 

 

Subject area of the reports of violations (Art. 3 of the APPFRPDIV): 

The PFLPSPIOIN applies to signals or public disclosure of information about: 

1. Violations of Bulgarian legislation or of the acts of the European Union specified in the annex to the law in the field of: public procurement; financial services, products and markets and the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism; safety and conformity of products; transport safety; environmental protection; radiation protection and nuclear safety; food and feed safety, animal health and animal welfare; public health; consumer protection; protection of privacy and personal data; security of networks and information systems;
2. Irregularities affecting the financial interests of the European Union within the meaning of Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
3. Infringements of the rules of the internal market within the meaning of Article 26(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, including the rules of the European Union and the Bulgarian legislation on competition and state aid;
4. Offences related to cross-border tax schemes, the purpose of which is to obtain a tax advantage that is contrary to the object or purpose of the applicable law in the field of corporate taxation;
5. A crime of a general nature committed, of which the whistleblower became aware in connection with the performance of his/her work or in the performance of his/her official duties.
6. For violations of Bulgarian legislation in the field of:
7. A) the rules for payment of public state and municipal receivables due;
8. B) labor legislation;
9. C) legislation related to the performance of civil service.

 

The APPFRPDIV does not apply to reports of violations: 

1. the rules for the award of public contracts in the field of defence and national security, when they fall within the scope of Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
2. the protection of classified information within the meaning of Article 1, paragraph 3 of the Classified Information Protection Act;
3. which have become known to persons exercising the legal profession and for whom there is a legal obligation to maintain professional secrecy;
4. the confidentiality of health information within the meaning of Article 27 of the Health Act;
5. the secrecy of the judicial deliberations;
6. the rules of criminal procedure.

 

Proceedings under the APPFRPDIV shall not be initiated in the event that: 

1. The report was submitted anonymously.
2. The report concerns violations committed more than two years ago.

 

IMPORTANT! The scope of the law includes signals that simultaneously meet the following conditions: 

1. They are filed by a person having any of the qualifications under Article 5 of the Act;
2. A working context is available within the meaning of § 1, item 4 of the Supplementary Provisions of the Act; and
3. concern actions or omissions that are:
4. a) are unlawful and are related to Bulgarian legislation or the acts of the European Union in the areas specified in Article 3 of the Act; or
5. b) contradict the subject matter or purpose of the rules in the acts of the European Union and the areas specified in Article 3 of the Act.

 

The subject scope of the APPFRPDIV includes only signals or publicly disclosed information about violations of Bulgarian legislation or acts of the European Union that threaten or harm the public interest, as well as European Union law . Only signals that fall within the scope of Article 3 of the APPFRPDIV and have been submitted under the terms and conditions of this law may be considered in this manner. 

The APPFRPDIV is not applicable to the consideration of complaints, signals or other requests, regardless of how they are titled, through which the protection of personal rights is sought only, which by definition are bound up with the presence of a personal and direct legal interest, without any indication of an affected public interest. Moreover, under the terms and conditions of the APPFRPDIV, complaints titled as a signal concerning interpersonal relations, regardless of the presence or absence of a work context, cannot be considered. A complaint is a legal means by which a person seeks protection of his or her violated rights. In contrast, a signal seeks protection of the public interest, regardless of whether the personal rights and interests of the reporting person are also affected . 

 

The scope of the APPFRPDIV does not include signals that, upon initial review, are obvious that they concern complaints (complaints or signals) about irregularities or dissatisfaction of clients/users of the relevant professional or administrative services of an obligated entity . Such signals do not fall within the scope of the LLPSPOIN and are not considered under its terms and conditions. 

 

 

Reporting procedure: 

Internal whistleblowing channel at ALTA PHARMACEUTICALS OOD: 

In order to quickly prevent a violation or eliminate the consequences of such a violation, the signal should be submitted as a priority through the internal reporting channel established at Alta Pharmaceuticals OOD: 

 

– Electronically to the following email address: signal@altaph.eu , by sending a pre-filled form approved by the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP). The form is published on the website of the CPDP, as well as at the following link: https://www.cpdp.bg/?p=sub_rubric&aid=282 . The completed form shall bear the signature, electronic signature or other identification of the sender of the report. Note: The form is not mandatory for completion by the reporting person. The reporting person may use it if he/she so wishes, or if he/she believes that it will facilitate his/her reporting. 

– Verbal reporting – by phone 0882 703 862 (phone calls are not recorded). 

– By sending a parcel to the address Sofia 1331, Stolichna Municipality, Vrabnitsa District, 578 Slivnitsa Blvd., by sending a pre-filled form approved by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC). The envelope of the shipment should clearly and prominently display the text “Report under the APPFRPDIV “. Note: The form is not mandatory for completion by the reporting person. 

– Orally, on site at the address: Sofia 1331, Stolichna Municipality, Vrabnitsa District, Slivnitsa Blvd. No. 578, within a previously agreed appropriate period, within the company’s working hours. 

 

Other ways to report: 

Persons reporting or publicly disclosing information about violations can choose the method of reporting: 

• to report a report through the above-mentioned internal reporting channel; 

• to file a report through an external reporting channel – The central authority for external reporting is the Commission for Personal Data Protection. More information can be found on the CPDP website: https://www.cpdp.bg/ ; 

• by publicly disclosing information about the violations, in compliance with the requirements of the LLLPSPPOIN; 

• to report to institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the European Union. Such reporting shall be considered as reporting through an external channel. 

 

Protection measures: 

The protection measures are regulated in detail in Art. 33 et seq. of the APPFRPDIV and provide for the prohibition of any form of retaliation against whistleblowers that is of a repressive nature and places them in a disadvantageous position, as well as threats or attempts to commit such acts. Forms of retaliation include (the list is not exhaustive): temporary suspension, dismissal or application of another ground for termination of the legal relationship under which a person performs paid work; demotion or delay in promotion; 

change in the place or nature of work, the length of working hours or reduction in remuneration; refusal to provide training to maintain and improve the professional qualifications of the worker or employee; negative assessment of the work, including in a job recommendation; application of property and/or disciplinary liability, including the imposition of disciplinary sanctions; coercion, rejection, threat to take retaliatory actions or actions, expressed physically, verbally or in any other way, which have for the purpose of violating the dignity of the person and creating a hostile professional environment; direct or indirect discrimination, unequal or unfavorable treatment; deprivation of the opportunity to switch from a fixed-term employment contract to an employment contract for an indefinite period, when the worker or employee had the legal right to be offered a permanent job; early termination of a fixed-term employment contract or refusal to re-enter into it, when such is permissible by law, etc. 

 

In case of violation of a prohibition under Article 33, the reporting person has the right to compensation for the material and non-material damages suffered. 

Harm caused to the reporting person in connection with the report submitted by him or the publicly disclosed information shall be deemed to have been caused intentionally until proven otherwise. 

 

Support measures 

Whistleblowers have the right to access the following support measures: 

1. free and accessible information and advice on the procedures and protection measures under Articles 36, 37, 38 and 39 of theAPPFRPDIV;
2. assistance before any authority necessary for their protection against repressive retaliation, including through due notification of the fact that they are entitled to protection under this law;
3. legal assistance in criminal, civil, administrative and international disputes in civil cases related to the protection of the reporting person in connection with the report submitted by him or the disclosed information, in accordance with the Legal Aid Act;
4. out-of-court resolution of cross-border disputes through mediation in accordance with the Mediation Act.

The measures under items 1 and 2 are provided by the CPDP, the measures under item 3 – by the National Legal Aid Bureau, and the measures under item 4 – by a mediator registered in the Unified Register of Mediators. 

 

Privacy: 

The obligation of confidentiality is regulated in Article 31 of the APPFRPDIV. 

The obligated entity under Art. 12, para. 1 of the APPFRPDIV shall take appropriate measures to protect the information related to the submitted reports of violations and to protect the identity of the reporting persons, ensuring access to the information only to employees who need this data to perform their official duties . 

Only the following have access to the alert register: 

1. the employee responsible for handling signals;
2. CPDP and the employees under Article 22 of theAPPFRPDIV.

 

Responsibility of the reporting person: 

Reports that contain obviously false or misleading statements of fact will be returned to the sender with instructions to correct the statements and to assume responsibility for any rebuttal. 

According to Art. 45 of the APPFRPDIV, when it is established that the reporting person has knowingly filed a report or has publicly disclosed false information, he/she shall be punished with a fine of BGN 3,000 to 7,000. The right of the affected person to claim compensation for damages suffered pursuant to Art. 39, para. 2 is preserved.