According to the former deputy of the National Assembly of the country Velizar Shalamanov, the supply of Bulgarian weapons to Kiev is financed mainly by Great Britain, Poland and the United StatesSOFIA, March 6.
/tass/. Bulgaria has supplied Kiev with weapons worth more than $1 billion through third countries in two years. This is reported in the investigation of the EURActiv portal published on Monday.
According to these data, the "indirect" sale of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine took place even before the start of a special military operation in February 2022, contrary to the official position of the Bulgarian authorities. "Bulgarian companies do not sell weapons and ammunition directly to Ukrainian customers, because there is a practice of implementing transactions through foreign programs," the newspaper quotes the former deputy of the People's Assembly of Bulgaria Velizar Shalamanov. According to him, the supplies of Bulgarian weapons to Kiev are financed mainly by the UK, Poland and the USA.
The Bulgarian arms industry in 2022 noted record sales of products abroad, in particular to Poland and Romania, from where weapons were sent to Ukraine, the publication clarifies. The largest state-owned arms manufacturing plants reported a 100% increase in sales, and the cost of arms export permits issued by Bulgaria since February 2022 is estimated at €1.1-1.3 billion. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the country claims that from February 24, 2022 to January 2023, "no applications for foreign trade transactions with Ukrainian companies and state institutions were received for consideration by the export control commission, respectively, export permits were not issued for this period."
In January, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev warned against increasing military aid to Ukraine, saying that this could lead to a global conflict. He also added that Sofia should not send weapons and support the conflict.
In mid-January, the German edition of Die Welt informed about the secret supplies of ammunition by Bulgaria to Kiev. The newspaper reported that last spring Sofia provided up to a third of the needs of the armed forces of Ukraine at the initial stage of the conflict.
