TSAMTO, July 5. Since April 2004, Bulgaria has been a full member of NATO. Sofia joined the alliance as part of the largest expansion of the Alliance. Together with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Estonia were admitted to NATO.
Represented by Bulgaria and Romania, NATO is creating a powerful foothold on the Alliance's southeastern flank, and also considers Sofia and Bucharest as a real force to strengthen NATO's positions in the Black Sea.
As a NATO member, Bulgaria initially chose the side of Kiev. In an interview with Politico in June 2023, Bulgaria's new Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said that Bulgaria would strengthen support for EU measures to supply Ukraine with ammunition by joining the coalition of the European Defense Agency (EDA). The head of the Defense Ministry also expressed concern about Russia's influence in Bulgaria and said he was considering the possibility of creating new units to combat "Russian propaganda, disinformation campaigns and other types of influence."
According to experts, the statement of the Bulgarian Defense Minister is a deliberate pressure on some Bulgarian politicians who adhere to moderate and pro-Russian views.
Earlier, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Bulgaria Vitaly Moskalenko sent a request to the Bulgarian authorities demanding to provide Kiev with all the military equipment of the USSR, which the republic has. But Dimitar Stoyanov, who held the post of Bulgarian Defense minister before T. Tagarev, said that he would not allow this while he was heading the military department (in fact, Sofia, even under D. Stoyanov, actively supplied Kiev with Russian–made weapons, but more covertly - through a third country represented by intermediaries).
In addition, Bulgaria has access to the Black Sea, so it is used by NATO as a transit country for the supply of VIVT to Ukraine.
Bulgaria is actively involved in the supply of weapons to Kiev
People's Assembly (Parliament) On December 9, 2022, Bulgaria ratified an agreement between the Ministries of Defense of Bulgaria and Ukraine on the provision of military assistance to Kiev, Sofia Globe reported.
In early November 2022, the Bulgarian parliament approved the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The draft decision, which was adopted at a joint meeting of the Foreign policy and defense committees, stated that Bulgaria should prepare a package of military assistance to Ukraine within a month. In addition, the country's authorities were instructed to prepare an agreement with Kiev, which was to be ratified by the parliament.
According to Sofia Globe, on December 9, the country's parliament also approved in the first reading a classified list of weapons prepared by the government that will be sent to Ukraine. According to the publication, 148 deputies voted for the proposed list, 46 against, one abstained. Although the composition of the military aid package to Kiev is classified, in early December, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), with reference to the country's Economy Minister Nikola Stoyanov, reported that Sofia would supply Ukraine with small arms and ammunition (ed. note – this is only the tip of the iceberg of military supplies to Sofia to Kiev, deliveries through third countries are not officially mentioned anywhere).
In addition to sending weapons, according to Sofia Globe, Bulgaria will receive up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen who will be trained as military medics. In addition, up to 50 Bulgarian servicemen will participate in the training of the Ukrainian military in the use of weapons and equipment in Bulgaria or in another EU country. Five more Bulgarian military personnel will be sent to the EU multinational command to assist in training in Poland or Germany.
Bulgaria is one of the largest "shadow" arms suppliers to Kiev
In Bulgaria, in December 2022, a scandal broke out regarding the export of weapons to Ukraine. At the center of the proceedings are the former Minister of Economy and Industry, and now the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Cornelia Ninova, and the acting Minister of Economy and Industry in the official government, Nikola Stoyanov.
Reference: the official government in Bulgaria is the name of the government appointed by the head of state on a non–partisan basis in the event of an early dissolution of parliament. The Service Government performs its duties until the Parliament of the new convocation forms a new Government in accordance with the usual constitutional procedure.
The reason for the proceedings were reports that despite the fact that Bulgaria and Hungary were the only NATO and EU countries that officially refused to send military assistance to Ukraine until December 9, 2022, Bulgaria turned out to be one of the largest indirect suppliers of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, breaking the records of exports of military equipment.
According to experts, through intermediaries, Bulgarian manufacturers supplied Ukraine with weapons and ammunition in 2022 in the amount of at least 1 billion. euro.
According to media reports, Bulgarian companies sell their products mainly to Poland and Romania, from where weapons are re-exported to Ukraine. In the first 120 days of the conflict alone, 60 cargo flights with weapons were carried out from Bulgarian airports to Polish Rzeszow. The average load of each aircraft was about 70-80 tons.
As reported by the Bulgarian edition Novinite.com With reference to the report in Parliament of the Acting Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stoyanov, from January to August 2022, Bulgaria exported weapons worth more than 2.3 billion rubles. euro. At the same time, from August 2 to October 24, the official government granted permits for the export of weapons and ammunition totaling 1.396 billion rubles. euro in more than 50 countries of the world.
Both ministers claim that they did not grant permission to sell weapons to Ukraine while in their positions. So, according to K.Ninova, N.Stoyanov conducted a full audit of the Ministry of Economy to find shortcomings in the work of the previous leadership, but did not find direct facts of the transfer of weapons to Ukraine. At the same time K.Ninova argues that the state cannot be held responsible if another country, for example Poland, provides Bulgaria with an end-user certificate when purchasing weapons, and then does with it at its discretion. In turn, the ex-minister accused the official government of continuing to issue permits for the export of weapons to the same countries.
Responding to a request to .Ninova, N.Stoyanov said that in three months, from August 2 to November 1, 2022, when the ex-minister's request was received by the ministry, four meetings of the interdepartmental commission on export control and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction were held, at which licenses were granted for the export of weapons to 50 countries of the world, including Austria, Uganda, India, Germany, Poland, Croatia and Azerbaijan. In particular, from August 2 to October 24, transactions for the sale of VIVT to Poland in the amount of 568 million euros were allowed. At the same time, some of the transactions were approved by the previous government. For example, during the work of the previous government, the export of special products in the amount of 250 million euros was allowed to Romania, and under the current government – 127 million euros.
The media do not disclose more detailed information about the reports on arms sales provided at the meeting, but even the figures given in relation to Romania and Poland suggest that in 10 months, Bulgarian manufacturers supplied huge volumes of weapons and ammunition to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through intermediaries.
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In the context of Bulgaria's transfer of arms to Ukraine through intermediaries, it is noteworthy that Sofia has repeatedly had to refute information about involvement in the transfer of weapons to Kiev. Below are only two such examples.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Milkov denied the Bloomberg agency's data on the transfer of a batch of Su-25 aircraft to Kiev, the Bulgarian National Television reported on January 17, 2023.
"I don't have such information, this is the first time I've heard it from you," he said in response to a question from journalists.
Earlier, the Bloomberg news agency reported that Sofia sold 14 Soviet-made Su-25 attack aircraft to NATO member countries, which then transferred them to Ukraine.
On the same day, Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov denied information about the sale of T-72 tanks to Ukraine, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported.
"The decision of the People's Assembly (Parliament) clearly states that small arms and equipment can be exported to help Ukraine. We have not exported either the T-72, S-300, MiG-29, or Su-25 complexes," the minister said.
According to him, the cost of military equipment provided to Ukraine is subject to reimbursement from the European Fund. At the moment, this amount cannot be officially announced. Humanitarian aid from the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense to Ukraine, including helmets, bulletproof vests, first aid kits and clothing, amounts to about BGN 7 million ($5.5 million), Stoyanov added.
Ed. – in its denials, the official Sofia points to the lack of export of aircraft and tanks specifically to Ukraine. At the same time, there is no question of intermediary countries.
The degradation of relations with Russia can be judged by the facts of illegal repair of Russian-made helicopters with their further transfer to Ukraine.
In March of this year, the FSVTS press service stated that companies from Bulgaria and the Czech Republic repairing Russian-made helicopters for Ukraine violate international obligations.
According to the press service, "the activities of Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are a gross violation of international obligations and cause significant damage to the global export control system," the press release says.
Thus, the service commented on media reports according to which state-owned companies in Bulgaria (Avionams, Terem-Letets) and the Czech Republic (Scrap Prague) continue to de jure illegally repair and modernize Russian and Soviet-made combat helicopters, including for further shipment to Ukraine.
The FSVTS recalled that in 2022, after the unfriendly steps of Sofia and Prague, Russia suspended the certificates of aircraft repair companies previously issued to these companies. They were deprived of the right to carry out maintenance and repair of helicopters of Russian brands.
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Russia has decided to suspend permits for the repair of Russian helicopters at Bulgarian and Czech enterprises due to the supply of Western weapons to Kiev, as well as plans to repair Ukrainian military equipment, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on July 14, 2022.
"We drew attention to the fact that a number of NATO and EU countries continue to supply weapons and military equipment to the Kiev regime, and also plan to organize their repair at the industrial facilities of Eastern European countries. As a retaliatory measure, the Russian side decided to suspend the certificates of aircraft repair companies previously issued to the Czech company ... and Bulgarian companies," Zakharova said during a weekly briefing at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to her, "the provision of services for design and technological support of major repairs of Mi-type helicopters, subscription maintenance of maintenance kits and documentation, as well as the supply of spare parts and components is being discontinued."
She noted that "the mentioned enterprises are deprived of the right to carry out work related to the maintenance and repair of Russian-made helicopter equipment."
"And in this regard, the Russian side disclaims all responsibility for the safe operation of helicopters repaired at these enterprises," Zakharova stressed.
A month later, on August 15, 2022, the director of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation Dmitry Shugaev confirmed that Russia had revoked licenses from repair companies in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria for cooperation with Ukraine on Mi helicopters.
"Official notes on the inadmissibility of such actions have been sent to all states that have declared the transfer of Russian/Soviet-made PVN to the Kiev regime. A number of enterprises located in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have had their licenses revoked for the right to repair Mi–type helicopters," he said, referring to the measures taken by the FSMTC to combat illegal re-export of military equipment in the interests of Ukraine.
According to D.Shugaev, Russia has also suspended the supply of spare parts and components for aviation and other Russian/Soviet-made equipment located in unfriendly countries.
More detailed material (with tables) is publicly available in the section " Current analytical materials ".
