Bulgaria to Invite Offers For Delivery of Fighter Jets, Armoured Vehicles by End-March

Politics » DEFENSE | February 21, 2018, Wednesday // 11:18
Bulgaria: Bulgaria to Invite Offers For Delivery of Fighter Jets, Armoured Vehicles by End-March pixabay.com

Bulgaria will launch procedures for the procurement of fighter jets and wheeled armoured vehicles by the end of March, defence minister Krassimir Karakachanov said on Tuesday.

"We will seek offers for delivery of new fighter jets as well as used ones [...] We may also extend invitations to a larger number of participants," Karakachanov said in an interview with public TV channel BNT.

In 2016, Bulgaria launched the procedure for acquisition of a new type of combat aircraft to replace its ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets. However, in September 2017, an ad-hoc parliamentary commitee, set up to supervise the selection process, recommended to relaunch the procedure, saying one of the participants in the tender had been unfairly disqualified from the race.

Karakachanov also said the expenditure of 680 million levs ($429.5 million/347.6 million euro) earmarked for acquisition of new patrol ships for the Bulgarian Navy is rather insufficient for the purchase of fully equipped vessels and the ministry plans to upgrade the existing frigates.

"We consider sending proposals to interested parties, and the main requirement will be for Bulgarian shipyards to be involved in the process," Karakachanov noted.

In 2017, Bulgaria launched a tender for construction of two multi-functional modular patrol ships for its Navy. In November, the defence ministry said that local shipyard MTG Dolphin was selected to do the job. In December, however, MTG Dolphin withdrew from negotiations with the government due to a cut in the maximum financing allocated to the project.

In June 2017, the defence ministry said it plans to spend 3.54 billion levs on rearmament programmes between 2017 and 2029.

Source: See news

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Defense » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Krasimir Karakachanov, defense, fighter jets

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria