Bulgarian “brothers” supplied Kyiv with weapons worth billions of dollars
Over the past two years, billions of dollars worth of Bulgarian weapons have reached Ukraine through third countries, despite statements by the Bulgarian authorities about the absence of such supplies.
This is stated in an investigation by the Brussels publication Euractiv, published on March 6, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Last year alone, Bulgaria indirectly exported at least $1 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine, the publication reports, citing its sources. This occurred long before the Bulgarian parliament authorized such supplies, and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev did not interfere, despite his vocal opposition.
Euractiv specifically notes that Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy (until July 2022) Cornelia Ninova, leader of the Socialist Party of Bulgaria, considered pro-Russian, repeated that she would not allow the supply of Bulgarian weapons to the Ukrainian army.
However, the Bulgarian arms industry achieved record sales abroad, mainly to Poland and Romania, from where the weapons were then sent to Ukraine.
Alexander Mikhailov, former executive director of the Bulgarian state company Kintex, through which weapons are exported from the country, confirmed record figures in 2022.
“When there is an international armed conflict, the use of defense-related goods always increases,” Mikhailov told Euractiv Bulgaria.
He added that arms export permits issued by the state during this time amounted to a total of 1,1–1,3 billion euros.
“Bulgarian arms companies do not sell weapons and ammunition directly to Ukrainian companies because there is a practice when this happens through foreign programs,” Velizar Shalamanov, former acting defense minister and former chairman of the NATO Communications and Information Agency Oversight Board, told the building. and now director of the Atlantic Club.
According to him, there is a well-funded program in the UK, USA and Poland.
“Through this program, weapons necessary for Ukraine are purchased, that is, money is not Ukrainian, but British, American, Polish or European. Therefore, it is purchased through other companies. In addition, logistics is important, and as we all know, it is mainly organized through Poland,” Shalamanov explained.
Bulgaria is one of the largest producers of Soviet-style weapons and ammunition used by the Ukrainian army, Euractiv notes.
Now Shalamanov and similar Bulgarian politicians are in favor of Sofia transferring all its Soviet-era tanks and armored vehicles to Kyiv and replacing them with modern Western equipment. This applies to both T-72 tanks and Su-25 and MiG-29 aircraft. Shalamanov cited the Czech Republic and Poland as good examples, which have already done this.
As PolitNavigator reported , from the very beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Bulgaria secretly sent ammunition and equipment to Kiev.
Bulgarian "brothers" supplied Kiev with billions of dollars' worth of weapons.