Former officers of the Bulgarian military have spoken in favor of the Strandzha 2 optic cable, a project which led to the arrest of ex Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev.

Tsonev was busted before Easter together for attempting to bribe an investigator who was looking into a BGN 120 M contract he made while in office (2008-2009) for the construction of the Strandzha 2 optic cable. Judge Petar Santirov and financial consultant Tencho Popov were also arrested for helping Tsonev as intermediaries in the bribery scheme, and all three of them are currently behind bars.

According to Ivan Kyosev, Chair of the Association of Communication and Information Specialists, the optic cable Strandzha 2 is very important as it is going to secure the existing communication system among Bulgaria’s state institutions by serving as a backup and providing addition protection against the deciphering of secret messages.

“It would be a mistake to terminate the Strandzha 2 project because of the violations of the former Defense Minister Nikolay Tsonev. This would be wrong because this project is not connecting with this specific minister,” Kyosev told Pro.bg TV.

“The opponents of this system want to terminate it with the argument that we live in a time of peace, and that terrorism is a mirage. However, Strandzha 2 can be used in times of natural disasters as well. It can mobilize the entire state. It will allow us to act as if in a Hollywood action film in time of a natural disaster. The optic cable would allow the high-ranking officials from all ministries to work together as a crisis headquarters by receiving data and video images from the place of the accident. Currently, each of Bulgaria’s most crucial institutions has a communication system of its own which is incompatible with those of the others,” explained the former military officer.

Kyosev also believes that the Bulgarian government will have economic benefits from completing the Strandzha 2 project as the optic cable will run parallel to the communication network currently owned by a large telecom, and the ministries will save dozens of millions of BGN by using a network of their own.